


The Phantom Thieves In: You Have Got to be Kitten Me

by goodygoody19



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Freaky Friday Flip, Hope you don't get too tired of these purr-fect puns, No this isn't canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2019-01-17 11:28:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12364764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodygoody19/pseuds/goodygoody19
Summary: All Morgana wants is to be human and get his memories back. Waking up after Kaneshiro’s defeat, he finally gets part of his wish - but at the cost of Akira swapping bodies with him! Now the Phantom Thieves must find a way to get the two switched back while Morgana doesn’t let Akira’s confidants get suspicious.Still, this is Morgana's dream come true. So why not enjoy it while he can, right? After all, what's the worst that can happen because he helped someone who needed it?





	1. Akira and Morgana in: The Im-paw-sible Situation

**Author's Note:**

> [My Persona Blog](https://stolenheartsa.tumblr.com/) \--- [My Main Tumblr](http://darrelodin.tumblr.com/)

_6/30/2016, Late Evening_

It’s been too long a day, Morgana thinks. First class, then stealing Kaneshiro’s heart, and then dinner and discussing the team’s next move…After all that, Morgana was glad to see everyone heading out somewhat early to get home in time to sleep. Or at least, that’s what they should have been doing. Instead, the late-night goodbye to Leblanc is being drawn out as the Phantom Thieves drag their feet.

“Go home and get some rest, all of you!” Morgana calls out from where he’s curled up on a bar chair. “You’re going to be exhausted tomorrow otherwise.”

Ann, Makoto and Yusuke all answer back affirmatively, but Ryuji shouts, “Yeah, yeah,” before letting the door close behind him.

The cafe falls silent, save for the sound of Akira washing the remaining dishes. It’d be soothing, if not for the fact it’s yet another thing to do before finally going to sleep. After the day they’ve had, it’s as much about Morgana’s own creeping exhaustion as Akira’s sleep schedule.

Morgana lets out a huff.

“That numbskull is just going to go home and play video games all night.”

“You mean like a normal teenager?” Akira responds, shutting the water. He grabs a rag and dries his hands, adding, “Some students even stay up until midnight, I hear.”

“As if any of you are normal,” Morgana scoffs. Rolling his neck, he hops onto the floor and walks toward the stairs. “And like I told the others, you’ll be exhausted tomorrow if you don’t go to bed early. The last thing you need is to pass out in class, with your position at school.”

“I’m pretty sure half the staff still believes I’m one second away from snapping and pulling a knife on a student. And that’s with my perfect attendance and grades.” Akira shakes his head, following him up to the attic.

“Then just imagine how bad it would be if you did!”

Akira doesn’t respond. Morgana quietly sighs, tail swishing back and forth as he steps across the floor. He’s sure Akira has imagined how badly everything could go very often - both as the leader of the Phantom Thieves, and as just a teenager on probation with juvenile hall hovering over his head. It’s not right, that he has to deal with all this.

If only he was human. Then he could try and make some of them see reason. Or at least take some of this work off of Akira.

A buzzing noise drags him out of his thoughts. Morgana looks up to see the teenager turn that ancient television on, the news blathering on about the latest fad. “Do you think you’d be able to pull off perfect attendance and high grades, Morgana? Even with all this going on?” Akira asks absently, as he stares at the flickering screen.

“Of course!” Morgana says, raising his head proudly. “I was definitely a well-rounded human being. Brave, charming, intelligent, handsome… I’m sure of it!”

Akira doesn’t say anything for a moment, only shutting the television in response.

“Well, if you say it, it must be true,” He finally says, tugging off his school shirt. He lets out a satisfied sigh, throwing it into his laundry pile.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Morgana asks, narrowing his eyes as Akira walks over and plucks a nightshirt out from under his bed.

“Nobody is perfect, Morgana,” The teenager shrugs, slipping on the shirt. Running a hand through his hair, he smiles down at Morgana. “That’s just a fact of life. We all just try to be the best we can.”

He rolls his eyes at him, stepping around the bed. “Obviously. But I have to be like that!” Under his breath he mutters, “I have to…”

“Why?”

“Because if I’m not, there’s no way she’d ever-” He cuts himself off.

If Akira notices his near slip-up, he doesn’t mention it. Letting out a sigh, the Morgana falls onto his stomach, curling up at the foot of the bed. Every day, he gets to see Lady Ann, but he can never _do_ anything about it. She’d probably just… Laugh him away, the way he is right now. Or worse. No, he he needs to become human. _Then_ he can really woo Lady Ann. Actually, that begs the question...

“Hey…” Morgana says, as Akira sits down next to him. “Is there anyone you’re interested in?”

Akira flashes a grin. “You’re with me all the time. Wouldn’t you know?”

“Well yes… Yes I would! And you clearly have shown no interest in anyone.” He pauses, and scrunches up his nose. “Except that one time you teased Kawakami.”

“Nothing wrong with a little joking with a partner in crime,” Akira says, placing his glasses aside.

Morgana raises an eyebrow in a decisively non-catlike way. “It is more than a little weird to call your homeroom teacher at her maid job.”

“It’s only weird if people find out,” Akira says with that too-smooth smirk of his. Leaning against the wall, he shrugs. “Besides, I’m sure there are more than enough other rumors going around about me. Like, I’m a witch, and you’re my cat familiar that I talk to.”

“That’s stupid. How can you even say that with a straight face?”

“Easily. After all, it’s basically true.”

“Shut up! Go to sleep, you, you tired teenager!”

Akira lets out a laugh, falling against his pillow. Whatever teasing left in him seems to fade as the exhaustion of the day finally catches up. Within moments, Morgana can hear his breathing slow down.

The cat frowns to himself, shifting in the sheets. Why did he have to turn into a cat? He can’t speak with anyone except the team, and even then they don’t always take him seriously. It would all be easier if he was human, he just knows it.

“One day, I’ll turn back. He murmurs to himself. “I know it.”

Shutting his eyes, he lets out a deep breath and waits to drift off into sleep.

* * *

_7/1/2016, Friday Morning_

It’s too hot.

Groaning, Akira lays on his side, refusing to open his eyes. The sound of birds chirping remind him it’s time to get up. It’s a school day, but damn if the palace hadn’t left him exhausted yesterday. Still, the heavy scent of coffee filling the air means Sojiro is already here.

Suddenly the bed beneath him shifts. Letting out a yelp, Akira barely catches himself on all fours before he hits the floor. Wide awake, he moves to stand up. Immediately, his balance gives out, and he falls forward. He opens his eyes with a shake.

He isn’t looking at human hands. Instead, little white paws greet him, leading to black furred legs. He looks up slowly, and the room looms over him. Akira’s eyes widen.

“What the hell?” He mutters, making a face at his voice. He sounds like a kid!

“W-what? Hands?” He hears a voice say. It takes a moment to register that it’s _his_ voice, like that hanging moment of confusion when he hears a recording of himself. In the time that takes to process, he’s noticed his body sitting up in bed staring at itself.

“I-I’m human? I’m human!” Oh no. If he’s in a cat’s body, then… “Akira! You have to see this!”

“I can,” Akira answers as Morgana looks around the room, an ecstatic smile on his face. Akira’s face.

“Huh? That sounds like...” Brows furrowed, he looks down and his eyes widen. “Wait. Akira?”

“Yeah. It’s me, Morgana.” He says. He can feel his tail moving behind him and he quickly sits down. “Somehow.”

The feeling of unease only grows as Akira watches his body loom over him and, with a bit of stumble, kneel down. “Wow. I never realized just how small I really looked as a cat.”

“Do you have any idea what could have caused this?” Akira asks.

With a small frown, Morgana shakes his head. “This… Shouldn’t be possible. It’s clearly due to the Metaverse in some way, but I have no idea how any change there would carry over here.”

Akira frowns. “What do you mean?”

Leaning back Morgana hums thoughtfully. “There’s certainly a chance that, in some Palace, we _could_ switch bodies due to the ruler’s perceptions. In that case, any of us could have switched,” Morgana explains as he pokes his arms curiously. “However, such a change would revert upon return to the real world… Probably.”

“I’m not hearing a ‘definitely,” Akira mutters. He schools a quick urge to flick his tail back and forth. With a sigh, he gets up and glares forward before taking a step. He can feel Morgana watching him as he tries to walk. “Even so, we just finished Kaneshiro off. Nothing in his Palace had to do with body swaps.”

He manages four steps before stumbling onto his stomach. Looking back at Morgana, his friend helplessly shrugs.

“I don’t know. The only other thought would be people using our names interchangeably. That could have all sorts of effects, depending on what people were thinking about.”

Great. No clues, no ideas, nothing. Akira sighs, slumping forward.

“So we’re stuck like this until we solve it?”

“Don’t worry! In the Metaverse, you should still look like normal… I think.” Morgana says, sitting back against the bed. “Though at the moment we can only go to Mementos to test things and… Wait.” He blinks, looking around.

“What’s wrong?” Akira asks, glancing about as well.

“Do you even _need_ those glasses you wear?!” Morgana shouts, glaring down at him. He’s clearly unaccustomed to human vocal chords; Akira flinches back at the volume.

“Quiet down!” He hisses, clutching the sides of his head. This nearly causes another tumble. “Sojiro will hear you.”

“Right, sorry…” Morgana winces. “Wait, Sojiro is here already?”

“Yeah, can’t you smell the coffee brewing?”

Morgana blinks in confusion before his eyes widen and he lets out a laugh. “Oh, that’s just how this place smells normally.”

“What?” Akira sniffs at the air again, practically tasting the scent of Blue Mountain. “But it’s so strong!”

“You’re in the body of a cat, your senses are much better,” Morgana explains, stretching out. “Or maybe your sense of smell is just really bad normally. Your body usually radiates the scent of coffee beans to me, and right now I can’t smell it at all.”

Before Akira can respond, the sound of the doorbell ringing downstair echoes.

“Sounds like Boss is here.” Morgana says, standing up. “Is he early? What time is it?”

“I don’t think he is. We just woke up early…” Akira says, and then his eyes widen. “It’s Friday! I still need to go to school!” He cries out.

“That’s fine! I can go for you. Everyone will think it’s you anyway.” Morgana smiles down at him. There’s something off about seeing such an openly impish expression on his own face.

Morgana walking around school. It should be fine, right? He already knows what everyone says, and he’s basically been attending Akira came here. Nothing to worry about...

“We will definitely find some way to get you your body back… And preferably put me into a human one instead of that cat again.” Morgana says with a dreamy smile. “But for now, think of it this way. You’re getting the full cat-burglar experience!”

“I don’t remember signing up for that.” Akira mutters before looking up at his friend. “But I trust you.”

“Great! I won’t let you down!” He says. Stepping around Akira, Morgana makes his way to the cardboard box of clothes stashed away and begins reaching into it.

“I never realized how much humans could feel with their hands,” Morgana muses, ruffling through Akira’s clothes. He pulls out the Shujin uniform and runs his fingers over the shirt. “It feels so much different with fingers.”

“Morgana, we do have to make the train.” As much as he’d like to let his friend enjoy exploring his (newfound? borrowed?) humanity, this really isn’t the time.

“Alright, alright.” As his friend gets changed, Akira looks up at the table where his bag rests… Taking a clumsy leap and landing on the table, he settles into his schoolbag and sighs. He already feels cramped, and he isn’t even being carried yet. Good thing he doesn’t pack many books, otherwise this body would never fit. Though, he supposes Morgana puts up with this every day.

“Hey, you up, kid? Or have you decided to start skipping?” Sojiro calls from downstairs.

“Coming, Boss!” Morgana calls out, grabbing Akira’s bag. Whispering, he says, “Akira, it’ll be fine! No one will suspect a thing with my _expert_ skills.”

“I’m sure that - Slow down!” Akira tightly grips the opening of the bag, eyes wide as Morgana practically leaps down the stairs. All hopeful thoughts of hiding things fly out the window.   _There’s no way people aren’t going to notice._

Coming to a stop at the bar, Morgana takes a seat in front of the already placed curry and coffee, putting the bag onto the seat next to him.

“Ah, there you are.” Sojiro turns around from eyeing the beans, a hint of a smile on his face. “Was worried the food was going to get cold waiting for you.”

“Sorry for worrying you, Boss!”

Akira watches as Morgana takes his first bite of curry, only to let out a groan as his friend freezes in place, eyes widening. Yep. Sojiro is going to think he’s gone crazy.

“Everything alright there?” Looking up, his caretaker raises an eyebrow.

“Yes. This is incredible, Boss!” Morgana cheerfully replies, quickly diving into it once more.

Akira sinks deeper into the bag as Sojiro stares for a moment before chuckling.

“Honestly, you eat that stuff every day, but watching you right now, I’d guess you’d never eaten in your life.”

“Well, then today you outdid yourself.” Morgana shoots back. Finishing his meal, he takes one last sip of coffee before standing up and grabbing the schoolbag. “Thank you again. Bye Boss!”

With that, Morgana runs out the door, leaving Sojiro chuckling to himself. “Teenagers…”

* * *

_Ryuji: Ugh, do we have ta go to school today? Yesterday wore me out._

_Ann: Same here. That stupid piggy-bot was such a pain._

_Makoto: I agree, but we do. We got it done in time, and now he’s going to reveal everything, correct?_

_Makoto: Therefore, we continue to act like normal teenagers and not draw attention to ourselves. And_ **_normal_ ** _teenagers do not skip classes._

_Ryuji: You sure? I thought I saw a couple of seniors skippin’ last Thursday._

_Yusuke: At Kohei, some art students will often leave for lunch and never return._

_Yusuke: I often find myself simply working through lunch. How can I waste time eating when I’m in the middle of a new inspiration?_

_Ann: Well… Good on you for being committed, Yusuke! But please eat. Seriously._

_Ann: And speaking of commitment, hey, Akira! What was the reading about for Kawakami today?_

_Makoto: Ann!_

_Ann: What? I planned to wake up early and do it, but exhaaaaauuuuustion_

_Ann: And… We were cutting it a little closer this time, guys. I was worried..._

_Ann: Anyway, Akira, save me!_

It’s a whirlwind of messages that come in just as fast as before. Morgana has seen them, from his resting place on Akira’s shoulder but now, actually holding a phone in his hands, Morgana can’t help but feel giddy. _This_ is what he’s been missing.

“What are they talking about?” Akira mutters from inside the bag. Seated on the subway - Akira had mentioned getting lucky - Morgana looks down at his lap, seeing blue eyes peeking out from the bag there.

“Makoto’s scolding the others for wanting to skip.” Morgana says with a shrug. “Bet they didn’t go straight to bed like we did. Honestly…” Glancing back at the messages, he adds, “Oh, yeah. What was the reading? Lady Ann forgot.”

“I think it was…” The sound of muttering trails off, only for Akira to pop his head out of the bag to glare at him. “Don’t you _dare_ call her that in my body.”

Morgana blinks.

“But Lady-”

“Morgana. You are in _my_ body. It is going to sound like me saying it. And it’s going to be uncomfortable for everyone.” Akira lets out a sigh, dropping his head onto the bag. “Tell the group that something has come up, and to have Makoto get us into the student council room alone so we can talk about it at lunch.” Akira narrows his piercing eyes up at him. “And _don’t_ call her ‘Lady Ann’! Please?’”

“Fine!” Fumbling for a moment, Morgana looks back to the phone. “I remembered the reading anyway.” He grumbles.

_Ann: Akiraaaaaaaa_

_Ryuji: Just desserts for you, Panther_

_Ryuji: No Joker to save you now_

_Akira: Shut it, Skull. I’m always here for my friends._

_Akira: It was chapter seven, Ann._

_Ryuji: Hey, what the hell dude!_

_Ann: Oh thank god that’s a short one_

_Ann: You’re a lifesaver Akira_

_Akira: Of course I am!_

_Ryuji: Geez, you’re talkative today_

_Ryuji: Usually we gotta drag every word outta ya_

_Ryuji: Too much coffee or somethin’?_

_Akira: Please, don’t be ridiculous._

_Akira: There is something we’ll need to discuss, though._

_Akira: Makoto, can you secure the student council room for us all to talk?_

_Akira: We can meet back at the hideout to discuss things with Yusuke later as well._

_Makoto:... Students might still wish to come in and talk about the gang threats. But I’ll try._

_Makoto: What is the matter though? Does this have to do with Kaneshiro? He still hasn’t contacted me..._

_Akira: We’ll tell you all at lunch._

* * *

In all the time Ann has known Akira (an admittedly short span, now that she thinks about it), she’s picked up on some of his habits. He’ll play with a stray curl in his hair when he’s feeling sassy, fix his glasses when he’s focused… Cross his arms and legs and look all smug as he wins a ridiculous game of Mario Party that he _definitely cheated at_.

But never, in all her days, would Ann say she’s seen her friend walk confidently outside of the Metaverse. It’s not even Jokeresque - he’s got a skip to his step, of all things, striding in an open gait that draws a sharp contrast to his usual calculated slouch and mild walk.

She arches an eyebrow as he approaches.

“Hey there, stranger. You’re looking happy.”

“I’m just feeling great about today.” Akira blushes.

Ann thinks she hears Morgana let out a groan from his bag, but can’t quite catch what he mutters afterwards. Whatever it is, Akira lets out a sigh and takes his seat. “Anyway, did you finish the reading in time?” He asks as he unpacks, letting Morgana sneak into his desk as usual. The cat seems to be struggling a little today, Ann notices.

“Of course!” Ann says with a laugh. After a moment, she rolls her eyes. “Okay, well, I skimmed it, and then checked online for the main points. But I’m still prepared, thanks to you!”

“A-anytime.” He says.

With that, the morning bell rings and they fall into their usual routine.

If not for the occasional sound of a pencil jotting something down, Ann would barely be able to tell Akira was behind her. At least, that’s how he normally is. But today, there’s a constant tapping of a pencil on the desk, or if not that, the sound of a heel constantly tapping the floor. At one point, as Mr. Inui is writing terminology on the board, Ann risks a quick glance to see Akira sketching… Something in the margins of his notebook. It looks like schematics for _something_ , but she can’t make out the words next to them, they’re such a mess.

Quickly turning around, Ann bites her lip. What could possibly cause their normally stoic leader to act like this? Had he found a date or something? Ann frowns to herself. That could be it. If Akira had, she’s not sure anyone would never find out unless he let them. Rolling her eyes, she pushes aside thoughts of Akira and tries to focus on what Mr. Inui is discussing.

“... And that is why such sacrifices were made. Now then, Kurusu-kun.” The voice of their teacher calls out.

Ann turns her head slightly, taking another peek at her friend. He casually leans back, settling comfortably into the chair - or as comfortably as anyone can in these chairs, she supposes. If Mr. Inui notices the change in posture, he doesn’t comment on it.

“In the book, Zhuge Liang of Shu is famous for his exploits during the Battle of Red Cliffs. But do you know what Chinese dish Zhuge Liang is credited for inventing?”

"Baozi," Akira answers, with a smirk.

"That's right." Mr. Inui responds, giving a short clap. As he proceeds to explain the probably important history of just why the answer was ‘baozi,’ Ann can already hear the other students whispering amongst themselves.

"Damn,” Someone mutters, “He didn't even hesitate."

"Bet he just snuck into the teacher's lounge and got a look at the answers." Another whispers back, snickering.

"Or maybe some people bothered to do the reading," Ann hears Akira say under his breath.

“Ssh!” Morgana hisses.

Ann frowns to herself, but a loud cough from Mr. Inui grabs the class’s attention. Honestly, it’s been months now. Can’t they give it a rest already? Still, maybe it’s finally getting to Akira.

The second the bell rings, Ann turns around.

“Hey, are you okay?” She asks. “You’ve been acting weird all morning.”

Akira quickly averts his eyes.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” He says. Again with the blushing, Ann notices. Maybe he’s coming down with something? She glances around, but thankfully the usual nosy students ditched for the cafeteria immediately.

“Really? ... Then why the super secret meeting, hmm?” She says.

He rubs the back of his head and sighs. “Well, this morning-”

“We can talk about it in the room,” Morgana interrupts, poking his head out of Akira’s desk.

“Careful, you can’t just peek your head out,” Akira hisses, snatching him up and dropping him into his bag in a flash and strangled half-yowl. “You definitely know better than that.”

Morgana sighs, but sinks quietly into the bag. Standing up, Akira flashes Ann a grin and offers his arm. “Well, shall we?”

“You’re such a dork,” She snorts, slapping his arm away. “Come on, you’re keeping everyone else waiting.”

“So are you!” He laughs as they leave the room.

Ryuji catches them by the stairs, and even though Akira smiles, Ann notices his shoulders tense up when the blonde boy throws an arm around them. Even his responses, while all smiles, seem short.

Walking into the student council room, they see Makoto already seated, notebook laid out on the desk.

“Shut the door, please.” She says, and everyone gathers around.

“Alright. What’s wrong, Akira?” Makoto asks. “Did something happen last night?”

Akira quietly walks forward to the table, placing his bag down to let Morgana out, and turns to face everyone. Crossing his arms, he says, “Yes.”

“Can you just tell them?” Morgana huffs at Akira, facing Makoto. “You’ve been speaking with Morgana this entire time, Makoto. I’m Akira.”

Ann blinks.

“Yeah right,” Ryuji scoffs. “You get enough sleep last night, Mona?”

“I’m serious.” Morgana fixes his eyes on him. “Just like you were when you said you’d stick by my side after we dealt with the track team.”

Ryuji’s jaw drops, and he whirls on Akira.

“Dude, you told the cat?!”

“Please, like I’d care enough to ask what the two of you were talking about that day.” The teen snorts. Hearing that tone come out of Akira’s mouth is disconcerting.

“The hell?” Ryuji says, flinching back. Akira just crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow in response. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Hey,” Ann says, placing a hand on the blonde’s shoulder. She frowns at Akira and Morgana.  “Guys, come on, you’re not pulling some sort of prank, are you?”

“No, he’s telling the truth.” Akira says. He looks down at Morgana. “If we go into Mementos, we can prove it. I think.”

“I can also just keep repeating things you’ve told me alone.” The cat adds. “In private, of course.”

After a moment, Makoto rubs her forehead slowly and lets out a sigh. “If what you’re saying is true, how could this even have occurred?”

“We don’t know why.” Akira- err, Morgana explains, looking down at the cat calmly sitting on  the table. Now that Ann knows it’s Akira, she can see the slight changes in the feline’s posture. He’s somehow become _more_ catlike than Morgana usually is. He’s gracefully relaxed, and his eyes subtly but keenly observe the room’s occupants. “It clearly happened because of some event in the Metaverse, but as to why… I don’t know. But while we’re there, we could try fixing it.”

“Well, good thing we finished Kaneshiro off before this happened.” Ann says, letting out a sigh. “If we had to balance a Palace and this at the same time…”

“Wait, is it ‘cause of that bastard’s Palace?” Ryuji shouts.

“Keep it down!” Morgana hisses.

“How can I keep it down when my best friend is an effin’ cat, and the talking cat is in his body?!”

“I am _not_ a cat!”

“Clearly!”

“Guys!” Ann interrupts, standing between them both. “Not the time. Like, it never is, but especially right now.”

She glances over to Makoto and Akira, who both look exhausted.

“I honestly don’t know where to look for an answer…” Morgana admits, shifting his weight from leg to leg.

“Well, there’s no rush, right?” At Akira’s frown, she quickly adds, “I mean, we need to lay low after this anyway, so we can spend our free time looking into this.” Ann says, taking a seat next to Akira. Reaching out, she gives his back a pat. He looks torn between satisfaction and mortification at that, so she quickly stops. “You’ll be back before you know it.”

“There’s just one problem with that.” Everyone turns to stare at Makoto and she lets out a sigh. “We have tests in just over a week. Remember?”

“Ah, shit. She’s right.” Ryuji groans, falling back into his own chair with a thud. “Man, why we gotta take tests? We _just_ dealt with Kaneshiro. The school should be thanking us with perfect scores!”

“I’m certain the only ‘gift’ we’d receive as Phantom Thieves would be a pair of handcuffs each.” Makoto replies. “And they’re only tests. As long as you’ve been paying attention, you’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ryuji grunts, looking over at where Akira is standing on the table. Ann’s fairly certain he’s paid as much attention in class as she has… Shit, they’re both screwed. “Well, at least _you_ don’t have to take them, dude.”

He shakes his head with a sigh. “I’d take tests over being a cat anyday, Ryuji.”

“About that,” Makoto looks to where Morgana is standing. “Morgana, do you… Actually know what is on the tests?”

There’s something ridiculous about watching him puff out his chest, Ann thinks. Perhaps because Akira would only do it out of complete irony, where Morgana is almost certainly sincere. “Of course I do! I’m sitting in his desk all day after all... Or, well, was.”

“Though it sounds like you’re snoring most of the time,” Akira scrunches up his little cat nose in an adorable fashion. “I don’t know how you can, it’s so cramped in there.”

“Hey, it was comfortable to me! And I still paid attention.”

Ann nods her head. “It’s true. Whenever Akira got picked on ‘randomly,’ I could hear Mona helping him out.”

“See! Lady Ann trusts me.” Morgana says, flashing her a smile of gratitude.

Before Ann can even frown at the title of ‘Lady’ coming in her friend’s voice like that, Akira speaks up from the table.

“Morgana.”

He winces, but quickly recovers.

“Anyway, it’s not like I won’t study too.”

“...Alright, well, I’m glad to know Akira’s grades won’t suffer for this. The plan is to go into Mementos after school, to test Morgana’s theory?” Makoto asks. At everyone’s nods, she types something into her phone and stands up. “I’ll let Yusuke know. Now, we need to leave. Lunch is almost over.”

Following Morgana back to class, Ann sighs. Why are their lives so messed up? There’s no way this’ll be as easy as they hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the people who brought you the Mishima awakening fic you always dreamed of, here is the Freaky Friday fic nobody but myself and Chronicdelusionist wanted at all. As I always say, however, there are never enough fics based on Morgana, so here's one for everyone to enjoy! I'll be completely honest, updates will be sporadic due to this being a very busy semester for myself and Chronicdelusionist. But we will strive to get these out as soon as we can!
> 
> Trivia Fun! This idea morphed out of a really weird one where initially it was _Sojiro_ who swapped with Akira. 
> 
> P.S. Chronicdelusionist is an amazing editor, and holy shit have you seen that artwork? Incredible.


	2. Akira in: Practice Makes Purr-fect

_ 7/1/2016, Friday Afternoon _

Shibuya Crossing is a bustling place at the best of times. Now is no exception, with students running about after classes and people leaving their workplaces. Honking horns, shouting voices and music blasting through the square makes for a hectic cacophony. 

Akira sighs, curled up on Morgana’s lap near the station terminal. He can feel his ears twitching despite his best efforts to relax. Being a cat means everything sounds larger than life, and everything was large enough to begin with. He refuses to breathe through his nose; The last time he tried, he ended up gagging for a full minute. Makoto sits next to them, looking something up on her phone, while Ryuji and Ann are leaning against the nearby wall, arguing over dessert choices. Yusuke, on the other hand...

“Observing you now, I must admit that the theory of Akira actually being a cat in a human’s body seems much more plausible,” Yusuke says, fingers angled together as if capturing a picture. Akira blinks at him, slowly raising his head. “There’s a grace and ease in your movements now that Morgana never quite captured.”

“Hey, I’m full of grace!” Morgana says, shooting a glare at the artist. 

“Yeah, graceful enough to get knocked out by a briefcase.” Ryuji scoffs, finally tearing himself away from his argument. 

“That wasn’t my fault.” Morgana narrows his eyes. “And you’re one to talk. You land on your face whenever you get out of me in the Metaverse.”

“Dude, phrasing!” Ryuji shouts, recoiling back into Ann. She rolls her eyes and smacks his shoulder. “And that’s only because  _ you  _ don’t give enough of a warning.”

“Then maybe you should clean out your ears!”

“Guys, stop.” Akira lets out a sigh. The less time spent thinking about the details of the Mona-bus, the better. “More importantly, why is there is a theory that I’m a cat?”

Makoto and Ryuji look away, coughing into their arms while Ann whistles innocently. 

“We simply believe you have quite a few feline habits. There is nothing to be ashamed of.” Yusuke answers, pulling out his sketchbook.

“Yeah! Honestly, it’s kinda adorable,” Ann says, flashing him a too-sweet smile. 

“And there is a gracefulness in your actions in the Metaverse, rather like a hunter on the prowl.” Yusuke adds, nodding to himself as he sketches. “I wonder if it fully transfers to your current form. You truly must let me sketch you before you regain your body.”

Akira shakes his head and glances up at Morgana, who shrugs, still seemingly disgruntled over Ryuji. It’s weird seeing his own face so expressive. 

“Don’t look at me. I haven’t told them anything.” Morgana says dismissively. His arms are crossed.

Ann jumps onto that immediately. 

“Told us what?” She asks, excitement clear in her voice.

“N-nothing!” Morgana hastily answers, glancing down at Akira apologetically. “Nothing at all!”

Akira groans. 

“It’s unimportant.” He says. “Everyone’s ready, right?” At their nods, he hops onto the ground and slowly pads closer to the terminal stairs. Turning around, he looks up. “Let’s go, then.”

As Ann whines about them being teases, Makoto activates the app. The familiar feeling of stepping through water hits, but a sudden rush of nausea and vertigo right afterwards knocks Akira right out. 

Seconds later, he thinks, Akira opens his eyes to see the not-quite-right floor of Mementos. He feels colder. More importantly, he sees human arms leading down to red-gloved human hands. Taking a breath, he sits up to his knees and allows himself a smile. He’s human again. Morgana was right.

“I see it really was true,” Makoto says. He looks up to see his friends smiling, relief clear on their faces. 

“Come on, you really think they were pulling one over us?” Ryuji says, pulling Akira up. He pats  his shoulder affectionately, and turns to flash Akira a grin. “This guy would never lie to us.” It’s much better seeing that smile at face level.

“I know that,” Makoto says, shaking her head. “But it could have been some unknown mental ailment from the Metaverse, and not necessarily-”

A cry of “Damn it!” interrupts Makoto’s words. Looking around, Akira can see Morgana - in his normal, cartoony form - standing on the bench and glaring down at himself. 

“Mona, why the hell are you surprised?” Ryuji asks. 

“Is this not what you had theorized? That you and Joker would turn back to normal while here in the Metaverse?” Yusuke asks calmly, not batting an eye at their feline friend’s volume.

Morgana seems to deflate at the question. 

“I’d hoped…” He trails off. With a shake of his head, he hops down and walks forward past Akira. “Whatever. You’re right; This just proves what I was saying.”

“Yeah.” Ann says, giving her hair a twirl as they all start walking down into Mementos. “Still, this is really weird. What could have made you and Joker switch like that? And did coming in here fix it?”

Akira stops, looking over to Morgana. His tail is twitching, but when he answers he sounds normal. 

“... Maybe.”

“Well, I’d prefer if we test some things first before we leave. We don’t want to keep popping in and out of Shibuya, after all.” Makoto hums to herself. “Are you sure you can’t think of anything concrete for this, Mona? Anything else you’ve thought of since lunch would be helpful.”

Coming to a stop at the bottom of the first staircase, Akira watches Morgana cross his arms and shake his head with a sigh. 

“Like I said before, there’s nothing that should’ve done something that would last outside of the Metaverse. Maybe there's something I’m forgetting...” He trails off, looking away. 

“Where have I heard that one before,” Ryuji scoffs. Akira grasps Ryuji’s shoulder, giving a quick shake of his head when he glances back at him.

“It’s still more than you know! And this is just the Metaverse.” Morgana snaps, arms stiff at his sides. “You don’t even know normal things, like your own language.” 

“Ah, shut up!” Ryuji shouts back, stomping forward out of Akira’s grasp.

“Guys, stop.” Akira says. Both look over, frowns on their faces. “Both of you need to cool off.”

“Sorry, Joker,” Morgana crosses his arms. His tail continues to lash out wildly behind him.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, dude.” Ryuji says, though it’s aimed at Akira. “But anyways, what else can we do here? I mean, it’s great Joker’s back to normal, but is everything fixed?”

Makoto shakes her head. 

“I doubt it. Which is why I suggest we run through some basic tests.” Makoto says, pulling out a notepad. Looking between Akira and Morgana, she says, “Can you still summon your Personas normally?” 

Numerous voices whisper in his mind at response, and with barely a thought Akira rips off his mask, summoning Clotho. The blonde woman unspools her thread, eyeing the group with a cool gaze. A second later, with a flip, Zorro appears behind Morgana, his rapier expertly slicing through the air.

Watching the personas fade, Makoto quickly jots something down. 

“We really should do a full check with a fight or two, just to be sure.” She says, sliding it away. “But at the very least, whatever change affected you two doesn’t seem to have touched your abilities.”

“Darn. I’m sure Mona would have gotten along well with Sandman, too.” Akira deadpans. Morgana sticks his tongue out at him. 

“I’m sure I would’ve come up with a masterful plan with multiple Personas.” He boasts.

“It would be quite interesting if you could, Mona.” Yusuke hums. “Perhaps we all should try to experience this body switching, if it would result in the team being able to amass more Personas.”

“Please, no more body switching. Let’s just work on me becoming me again, okay?” Akira says, ignoring Ann’s laughter in the background. 

“Well in that case, let’s go kick some Shadow ass!” Ryuji shouts.

Out of the corner of his eye, Akira sees the familiar glow of a blue door wide open. There’s not one, but two young girls standing outside, silently observing them. Odd. “One second.” He says.

“You were the one who told us to go, dude!” He hears Ryuji complain. Makoto says something, but Akira isn’t paying attention as he walks over to the Velvet Room door.

“What do you want, inmate?” Caroline barks, eyeing him suspiciously as he approaches. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

Justine shakes her head, idly flipping through her paperwork. 

“Now, Caroline. You can hardly fault the inmate for his recent pussyfooting. He seems to be in quite the hairy situation.” She says. Akira blinks down at the quiet attendant. There’s not even the hint of a smile on her face at the wordplay. 

Caroline doesn’t notice immediately. 

“Well that’s no excuse to be… Wait a second. Seriously, Justine?” She scowls at her sister. Akira stays silent, inwardly chuckling. He can’t stop the hint of a smile from quirking at the edges of his mouth, but quickly schools his expression in the interest of a pain-free visit. “Whatever. If it were me though, I’d actually be doing something about it!”

Reflecting on past attempts to correct Caroline’s assumptions, Akira decides to let her continue to believe him lazy in the hopes of not limping for the next hour. 

“Do either of you know why this happened?” He asks, instead. Caroline grunts in response, while Justine slowly shakes her head. 

“We do not. Our master might have some idea, however. Just before we discovered your… Changed form, we were told to depart from the Velvet Room.”

“No, not permanently, you idiot,” Caroline rolls her eyes at Akira’s unasked question. “Just until whatever happened was sorted out.”

“It was strange. Like a pale light trying to gather…” Justine murmurs, rubbing her forehead. “Perhaps an attempted intrusion.”

Akira tries not to let the thought of something actually breaking into the Velvet Room visibly shake him. He clearly fails, if Caroline’s smirk is anything to go by. 

“Guess I’ll ask the big man himself, then.” He quickly moves in as Caroline shouts about ‘respect.’

Akira pauses upon entering the Velvet Room. His cell hasn’t changed, and the ever present bars and metal chains remain, but the room feels… Off, without the twins attending to things. Colder. Akira’s only greeting is from Igor and his ever-present smile. 

Igor isn’t like any of his other Confidants. It’s hard for him or the twins not to be, but where he has learned more about Caroline and Justine, Igor has remained an enigma. Akira’s not sure he’d want to truly understand him either, or if he even can; He talks like someone omniscient observer, and unlike the many shadows wearing gods’ faces, judging by their interactions, he might actually be the real deal. Given his constant reference to ‘the game,’ perhaps that’s all he sees Akira as: the king-piece on some board. If that’s the case, what the hell is he playing against?

Akira shakes his head of those thoughts, gripping the iron bars and looking to Igor. Igor’s perpetual, toothy smile meets his gaze. 

“We dealt with Kaneshiro.”

The unsettling man tilts his head slightly. 

“Indeed. And you’ve gained a new confidant, the Priestess, to advise you. A useful ally to have, in the coming misfortune.” He lets out a familiar dark chuckle as he leans back. “Yes, your rehabilitation is proceeding quite nicely.”

_ Great. Glad to know.  _ Shifting the weight of his feet, Akira asks the question of the hour. 

“Why have Morgana and I switched bodies?”

“You speak of your… Curious situation with the Magician?” There’s not even a twitch of an eyelid in response; Igor’s response is delivered with perfect composure. 

Akira nods. Something white dances at the edges of his vision, almost pulsating from the very walls. When he turns to look, though, there’s nothing there. 

“As a Trickster, handling unique circumstances such as these is required.” Igor responds, grabbing his attention. “Especially for the coming calamity.” He adds.

_ What is happening in this calamity that me knowing how to act like a cat will be needed?  _ Akira thinks to himself. “Then how long will we be stuck like this?” He asks aloud.

Igor spreads his hands helplessly, or in some attempt to come off in such a manner. 

“I cannot say. But I’m sure it shall not affect your rehabilitation. The Metaverse is still a playground for your human form, after all.” He tilts his head, relaxing into his normal posture. “Unless, you fear your confidant cannot keep up with you in the world of man?”

“I trust Morgana. He won’t let me down.” Akira says. “We’ll sort this out together.”

Igor’s smile somehow grows wider. 

“Such drive. You are certainly a fascinating mortal.” His unearthly chuckling sends shivers down Akira’s spine. “I look forward how you… And the Magician, handle this. Now, is there anything else you require?”

Releasing the gate, Akira shakes his head. 

“Then let the girls know that they may return. Until we meet again, Trickster.”

A blink of his eyes later, Akira finds himself back in Mementos, both girls watching him intently. 

“ _ Well _ , inmate?” Caroline asks. “Did you find what you needed, or just waste our master’s time?”

“I found out about what I expected.” Akira says with a shrug. “He also said you two could go back in now.”

“Perfect,” Caroline says, walking towards the door. “Get it together fast, inmate!”

Justine tilts her head at him. “Good luck, inmate. Your companions await you.”

* * *

“Well, whatever is going on, it certainly hasn’t affected either of your fighting capabilities,” Makoto says as Ann heals a stray cut on Yusuke’s arm.

If there’s one thing the Metaverse has been good for - besides resulting in Akira meeting some of the best people in his life - it’s stress relief. Driving around in the Mona-bus and smashing shadows has been cathartic, venting a good deal of the stress he’s pent up since waking up this morning as a cat. Damn, had it only been this morning? He shakes his head. It feels like this day has gone on for weeks.

“Thank goodness for that,” Ann says. Standing up, she looks over to where Akira is calmly observing everyone next to Ryuji. “I don’t know what we’d do if you lost your abilities, Joker.”

“It would certainly make our infiltrations more dangerous.” Makoto says, all business. “Still, all we’ve learned is that the two of you haven’t changed here in the Metaverse. Is there anything peculiar anyone remembers around the time we stole Kaneshiro’s heart?” 

“Uh, we were all screaming as the damn place exploded around us?” Ryuji volunteers. 

Makoto massages her temples. “Yes, I do remember that part. Anything else?” 

“We… Also screamed when we were falling?” Ann adds. “There was a lot to scream about, honestly.”

“I am not sure we will be able to remember anything different, Queen,” Yusuke says. “Disregarding the lack of information about how this occurred, there’s very little to go off of. The Metaverse is a strange place, after all.”

“Fox is right,” Ann pipes up. She points a finger at Mona. “Maybe exploring Mementos more might help, though! You said your memories might come back if we get to the bottom, right Mona? Why wouldn’t this?”

“Hmm, that’s true…” He grins, letting out a laugh. “Yeah, that’s gotta be it!”

“So we keep doing what we’ve been doing, huh?” Ryuji grins, throwing an arm over Akira’s shoulders. “Sounds fine by me.”

Akira nods. 

“We’ll take some time soon to do that, then. But after yesterday, I want us to have a bit more rest, alright? Let’s head out for the day.”  _ And cross our fingers that just coming here was enough to fix it _ , he thinks.

“I wonder, when does the transformation take place? If someone was waiting in the real world, would they see it happen?” Yusuke says. “Or would -”

“ _ Okay _ , filing that one under ‘never think about,’ right next to the Mona-bus,” Ann says, yanking out her phone. “Well, Joker, there’s only one way to find out, right? Ready to head back?”

At his nod, Ann presses the button. One rush of nausea later, and Akira finds himself back on the ground, four-legged and ears twitching at the sounds of the city. He scrunches up his nose and lets out a sigh.  _ Too much to hope that diving back into the Metaverse would fix everything _ .

“Did coming back fix it?” Ann asks, eyeing Morgana and Akira. 

Akira shakes his cat head, padding over to her. “No, I’m still in Morgana’s body.”

“And I’m still in Akira’s.” Morgana speaks up, stretching his arms high above his head. 

“Well, what else can we do then?” Ryuji says, crossing his arms. “No way you should be stuck like this.”

Akira shrugs, settling into his bag. 

“For now, nothing. Morgana will have to keep up appearances for me, and when we have the time, we’ll try searching through Mementos for answers.”

That answer doesn’t seem to satisfy anyone, if their frowns are any indication. Ryuji lets out a groan. 

“Damn, it’s going to be hard to play video games with you like this, dude.” He says. Akira can’t help but chuckle at that.

Ann rolls her eyes. “Seriously? That’s what you decide to focus on?”

“Well, we can kinda still go for runs? It’d definitely look weird.” Ryuji says. “But there’s no way a cat body can play games.”

“Then just read a manga to him like you usually do,” Morgana pipes up. Akira and Ryuji both glare at him, though he only seems to notice Ryuji. “What? Am I wrong?”

“Yes!” He hastily answers. 

Morgana opens his mouth to answer, but finally notices Akira and chooses not to keep going.

“We will have time to adjust a different day. For now, we do still have class tomorrow. I expect everyone will be there.” Makoto’s eyes narrow. “And that there won’t be any morning texts for the readings, correct?” 

Ann chuckles nervously, stepping ever so slightly away from the student council president. 

“Of course not! In fact, I think I should go do some work right now. Come on, Ryuji!” She says, grabbing the blonde’s arm and tugging him towards Shibuya’s central thoroughfare.

“Hey, slow down, dammit! I didn’t agree to this!” He shouts, struggling in her grip. “Ann, what the hell?”

“Bye guys! We’ll see you tomorrow!” She calls back, leaving the rest of them to watch her and Ryuji vanish into the crowded streets.

“I suppose that is my cue to leave.” Yusuke remarks. “I have a painting to finish tonight. Do let me know when you have the chance to pose for some art, Akira.”

“I should go as well.” Makoto shoulders her bag. “Sis should be getting home soon, hopefully, so I’ll need to cook dinner. Get home safe, you two.” She says. 

Giving a paw-wave to them both, Akira lets out a sigh and turns to Morgana. 

“We should probably head back as well. Unless you want to explore a little bit? You know, since you’re human.”

“Yeah! Err, how about we pick up some dinner for you, and then head back? And since everyone else is busy, I can teach you how to be a cat tonight!” Morgana proclaims. Peering down at him, he adds. “Or at least, how to not trip over your own paws quite so much.”

“Morgana, I think I’ve proved I can walk around without any help.” Akira says, stepping forward. Taking a second, Akira leaps up Morgana’s leg, climbing up onto his shoulder. 

“Ow! Less claw, less claw!” Morgana flinches back, glaring at him. “I should not be able to feel you dragging yourself up my body.”

“Sorry.” Akira says, slipping into the bag. “If it’s alright with you, we can just grab something fast from the store in Yongen-Jaya.”

Morgana starts whispering about the different things to look out for in Tokyo as a cat, and Akira settles in, ignoring the cold feeling settling in chest.

* * *

_ 7/1/2016, Friday Evening _

“Just finish up with those dishes for me, alright.” Sojiro says, putting on his hat. “And maybe practice some more with the coffee. Maybe not enough people came in tonight to test you, but I’ll kick you out before a mediocre drink is served in my cafe.”

“Of course, boss.” Morgana answers back. “Goodnight!”

The door closes, and Morgana lets out a sigh. Day one as a human, and he’s exhausted. It’d been easy enough doing a bit of food shopping, and spending some time explaining to Akira how to better move around was honestly fun. But walking into LeBlanc resulted in cleaning dishes, and serving patrons was… Well, draining. Shaking his head, Morgana calls upstairs. 

“You can come out now, Akira.”

A few moments later, his friend pads down the stairs and out into the cafe. 

“You know, it’s pretty late. You should go to sleep.” Akira says, jumping up onto a bar stool in one smooth motion.

“How long have you been waiting to use that one?” Morgana raises an eyebrow at his friend. 

“Since week two.” 

Morgana lets out a laugh, flicking droplets of water off his hands before turning to face his friend. 

“You know why I do it.”

“I think you just want me asleep so I don’t discover your midnight escapades.” Akira hums in response. “But unlike you, however, I can understand staying up a little later.” Akira says, resting his head on the bar. “Do what Boss said. If you’re going to work with him, you definitely need to learn, and you were lucky he didn’t tell you to tonight.”

“This is just day one! Give me a week, and I’ll give even Boss a run for his money.” Morgana proclaims, turning around to gather the beans. Akira always seems to practice with Blue Mountain, he’s noticed, so why not start there?

“You should start by not quite boiling some water and using that to rinse the coffee filter.” Akira advises, eyeing Morgana carefully as he starts preparing the coffee-drip. “Also, could you bring me my notebooks? I should probably study, in case everything gets fixed before tests.”

“Of course.”

With Akira’s advice it’s… Surprisingly relaxing to make coffee. The strong scent permeating the air as the beans are soaked makes him feel comfortable…. Like it’s just a natural activity at the end of the day. It’s just a shame he can’t share the results with Akira right now. Pouring himself a cup, Morgana lets his creation sit a moment before taking a deep sip… And immediately slamming the cup down, coughing coffee up.

“That was disgusting! Ryuji was right, how can all of you drink this?” He sputters, feeling his face redden. This is scandalizing!

Akira laughs, an all too smug grin on his face.

“You didn't mention it all this morning.”

“That's because I was so focused on Boss’ delicious curry!” Curry that Morgana desperately wished was here to drown out the  _ bitterness  _ filling his mouth.

“It was your first batch. Why not give it another try? I’ll help you through it.”

“Fine. But how can you drink this for hours at a time?” Morgana grumbles, washing out the slow-dripper. “I’ve watched you down almost a dozen cups at the diner before.”

“Because it tastes good.”

“Then clearly your sense of taste is as bad as your sense of smell!”

Another round of brewing later - this time with Akira watching more closely and pointing out the dark spots to pour on - leaves Morgana and Akira eyeing his second attempt at Blue Mountain. Wiggling his nose, Akira shrugs.

“Well, I'd taste it for you, but… Yeah. It does smell much better this time around.”

That’s a good sign, at least. Taking a deep breath, Morgana lifts the cup to his mouth and hesitantly takes another sip. There’s still that toe-curling bitterness, but he doesn’t immediately want to spit it out. 

“I'm going to have to force myself to drink this all the time, aren't I?” He asks, putting the cup down.

“I do drink a lot of coffee. Boss would definitely get suspicious if I suddenly stopped.” Akira admits, looking back to his notes. “Your handwriting is terrible, by the way. And why are there sketches for lockpicks and bombs in the margins?”

“Well excuse me if I need to practice a little. It’s my first time writing!” Morgana snaps back. He hops to his feet, taking the cup over to the sink. “T-That I remember, anyway.” He hastily adds. “And the lecture was boring, so I was trying to think of ways to make better thieves’ tools.”

With a smile, Akira shakes his head. 

“Well, you’re not wrong, but please try to focus in class. … And maybe try to doodle something less suspicious.”

“Oh, like you focus?” Morgana remarks.

“I focus as much as required.” He responds airily.

“Akira, you nearly fall asleep once a week. You’re at the top of your class because you just teach yourself everything.” Morgana says. “The only class you pay attention in is Kawakami’s, who told you you  _ could  _ slack off!”

“That’s because I want to show my appreciation by not abusing her side of our deal.” He states, lounging into the chair.

“Whatever you say.” Glancing at the clock, Morgana shakes his head. “Okay, sleep time. Let’s go.”

Heading upstairs, Now that there’s no rush, Morgana can’t help but find himself noticing more about the body he’s inhabiting. For one, it’s all limbs. If not for going for runs and to the gym with Ryuji, and their escapades in the Metaverse, the teenager’s body wouldn’t be any thicker than a twig. What would he have been doing if Morgana hadn’t met him, anyway? Not getting enough sleep, certainly, but would he have tried exploring Tokyo? Would he have met even half the people he has now? Morgana glances over to where Akira is sitting, and the question dies on his lips at the sight of him staring at his paw with morbid curiosity. Ah. Of course.

“You know, I can help wash you in the sink downstairs if you’re uncomfortable cleaning yourself.” Morgana says with a chuckle. 

Startled, Akira looks up at him, quickly settling his paws on the ground. 

“I think I’d prefer that,” He admits. 

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Morgana says as they walk back downstairs. At the sink, he  stops and asks, “Can I pick you up? I’ll need to scrub you a lot anyway.” He gives a short nod, but as he picks him carefully up, Akira’s tail flails about wildly. “It’s okay, here, hop in.”

As Akira waits, Morgana takes his t-shirt off (no need to get it wet) and starts the water. Akira keeps a paw under, carefully soaking his entire body once it heats up enough. Pouring some soap into his hands, Morgana gently starts rubbing Akira’s back and head, eliciting a purr from his friend. He feels tense under his fingers.

“That’s worst part,” Akira finally speaks up. “I can’t control the purring at all. It just happens.”

“How do you think I always felt, hmm?” Morgana says. “I told Ry-err, everyone to stop commenting on it, and what do they do? Keep making jokes!” 

“Well, you never sounded serious…” He admits. Morgana rolls his eyes, massaging Akira’s back with soap. 

“That’s because everyone looks at me and keeps seeing a cat, Akira. I bet Ryuji still sees me as one, even like this.”

Akira shakes his head. 

“He really doesn’t.”

“Sure.” Morgana snorts, letting go of Akira.

“I’m serious.” Akira forces himself to turn around, looking up at Morgana. He keeps harshly blinking, probably to keep soap water out of his eyes. “You two need to have a one-on-one conversation about this. And not just because he’s my best friend, and it’d be suspicious if we suddenly stopped hanging out.”

Morgana crosses his arms. 

“That bonehead isn’t going to change his mind just because I can look him in the eyes, Akira.”

“Morgana.” Somehow, even in Morgana’s cat-body, Akira can pull off his trademark ‘disappointed’ gaze.

“Alright, alright,” Morgana relents. He pointedly looks away. “But if he starts getting angry like this is my fault, I’ll beat the stuffing out of him.”

“Please don’t. I’m going to talk to him about things, too. All of the team, actually. If this is a long term thing, we’ll need to have a plan.” Akira sighs. “I want to soak a little longer before I dry off, but can you grab a towel for me?”

That’s much easier to do than discuss the unknown future of this situation. A shake and towel-off later, both Akira and Morgana are back upstairs. Now settled into bed with the lights turned off, Morgana lets his mind wander.

There are lots of different feelings as a human. Well, not feelings, Morgana muses. Perspectives. People look at him and see  _ him _ . Or, well, they see Akira, but they see a human. And his size… He takes up most of the bed he’s lying on, whereas before he barely covered the pillow he’s resting his head on. 

“Hey.” Akira’s voice interrupts his thoughts. “Were you hoping you’d still be human in the Metaverse?”

Morgana flinches, but turns to look out the window. 

“S-so? What if I was, huh?”

“I can’t say I don’t understand a little bit better now.” Akira admits, stretching out next to him. “Being a cat is novel, but I’d prefer being myself.”

“I don’t need pity.” Morgana huffs. “We’re going to find out why this is going on,  _ and  _ I’ll become human. I guarantee it.”

Akira shakes his head. “I believe you. And even if you don’t become human at the end of this, we’ll keep working and find a way.” After a moment, Morgana feels a pat on his leg. “Goodnight, Morgana.”

“Goodnight.”

Morgana's mind wanders as he stares at his hand, visible in the moonlight peeking through the window. Why had he turned back into a cat in Mementos? Shouldn’t he-  _ couldn’t  _ he have turned into a human? That’s what he was before… 

Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, _only_ a few weeks later. But the chapter is finally out! I truly hope you all enjoyed this; I had a blast writing it (and slowly making it longer, and longer, and longer...). I actually made this so long, I had to cut a scene to move to the next chapter. No idea when that will be out (the coming week is looking to be rather busy), but hopefully it shall be soon. 
> 
> P.S. Chronicdelusionist continues to be awesome, I mean, have you seen that kickass art? Because it's pretty sweet.
> 
> Fun Fact: The ending of this chapter was going to be way more heartfelt and sappy. Then I remembered Morgana is a prickly cactus, and thus rewrote it to better show that.


	3. Ryuji in: Caught in a Cat Romance

_7/2/2016, Saturday After School_

Morgana lets out a sigh as the last bell of the day rings out. _Finally_ , he thinks to himself. Waving a goodbye to Ann, he slouches into his seat.

He might be using a neutered sense of smell (he shudders at his own mental phrasing), but Morgana can still catch the scent of boredom and exhaustion emanating from the other students in classroom 2-D. As much as he scolds Akira for sleeping in class, Morgana hasn’t exactly felt inspired to stay focused all day - though he certainly tried. The checklist of supplies and weaponry to purchase has only grown throughout the day, though Morgana made sure to take notes as well. His handwriting might still need improvement, he notes, glancing over the last class’ notes.

And he’s still wearing those fake glasses because Akira _refuses_ to let him stop.

A yawn grabs Morgana’s attention.

“I think my cell phone buzzed during class. It might be for work.” Akira speaks up.

Glancing at Akira’s phone, Morgana blinks down at the notifications and gulps. Front and center is Tae Takemi, a short message underneath her name. _‘Hello my little guinea pig. Next test is ready. Don’t keep me waiting~’_

Morgana glances around, but his fear of being overheard is unfounded. Half the class is already gone.

“Are we sure Takemi needs your help?” He whispers at his desk, placing his books in Akira’s bag. “Can’t she test on _actual_ guinea pigs?”

“Morgana.” Akira pokes his head out. “You know she needs to test on people.”

“Okay, okay! But, if I’m going into this, I want details,” Morgana says. “It’s like exploring a Palace. The last time I was with you when you visited for an ‘appointment’ was back in April, and I don’t want to be blindsided.”

“This is nothing like a Palace.” Akira chuckles. “Ask her if she needs you immediately, or if you can go later.” He slips into the bag. “She usually doesn’t mind it being later; Less of a chance one of her clients will show up.”

“As for Tae herself… She’s going to tease you. A lot. Just roll with it. And let her know she’s really good at what she does. Last time I went she was practically drowning in new clients.” He pauses, glancing up at Morgana, who is certain his skepticism is showing on his face. “Tae can be intimidating, but she wouldn’t let you get hurt. Everything she’s had me test has only knocked me out at worst.” Akira adds, getting a pained expression in response.

“ _Only_ knocked out?” Morgana hisses at him. Akira rolls his eyes. Wow. It _does_ look really strange to see a cat do that.

“That hasn’t happened for over a month.”

“How reassuring,” Morgana huffs. “So, what, do I just show up and get knocked out?”

“You seem caught up on this.”

“I am not.”

“If you say so,” Akira says, patting his knee. “You’ve faced way worse in the Metaverse. Just do what I’d do. She’s a brilliant doctor.”

Morgana has to agree with him. Even with their cognition affecting things in the Metaverse, some of the medicine has had truly remarkable effects. And without those adhesive patches, the group probably wouldn’t have made it through Kaneshiro’s Palace in time.

And she’s just a doctor. He’ll be fine! Nothing to worry about. Probably.

Slipping the bag over his shoulder, Morgana walks out of the classroom, turns and comes to an abrupt stop. Pushing himself off the stairway wall is a familiar blond teen who looks… Unsure.

“Hey Mo-Akira.” Ryuji stumbles, hand half-raised in greeting.

“Hello Ryuji,” Morgana says. “Did you need something?”

“What, can’t a dude just wanna say hey to his friend?” Ryuji says, letting out a shaky laugh. Morgana raises an eyebrow in response. “Uh, so uh, you got work today?”

It’s true enough. Morgana nods.

“Well, if you’re going to be busy, uh, subbing in for him I could take Ak-Morgana! Take Morgana off your hands.”

Morgana crosses his arms. “Uh, why?”

“I mean, you wanted to go around and see the city, right? Wouldn’t wanna be carrying around a cat all day, right? I mean, what if he sneaks out or somethin’?”

The blond rubs his head awkwardly, tapping his foot against the floor.

Before Morgana can respond, a voice says, “Sure, Ryuji.” Morgana turns his head, eyes widening in surprise at Akira, who is now perched on his shoulder. His friend meets his gaze. “Has Takemi answered yet?”

“I’ll check, but please get back in the bag!” Pulling out Akira’s phone, Morgana lets out a sigh. “She did.”

_Takemi: I suppose an extra two hours is fine. But no later. Unless you want to test the really fun stuff._

“Then you’re all set.” Akira says, patting his shoulder and leaping back into the bag. “Just remember what I told you, and you’ll be fine.”

“Of course I’ll be fine!” Morgana says. Still, his fingers tighten around the bag for a moment longer before he pulls it off his shoulder. Akira slips himself out, landing into Ryuji’s bag. “You two go do… I don’t know, whatever you weirdos do without me.” He narrows his eyes at Ryuji as shoulders his own bag. “Though you’d better not feed him a ton of ramen. When we switch back, I need to be in peak condition!”

“Yeah, yeah. Your cat body will still be ready to laze around in, don’t worry.” Ryuji grumbles. Before Morgana can snap at him, his eyes widen. “Oh crap, I forgot to grab my gym clothes. See ya, uh, Akira!” Ryuji shouts before running off. “I’ll make sure to drop him off tonight!”

“You idiot, don’t just shout that,” He calls back. The blond is already down the hall and out of sight. Near the window, the newspaper girl seems to be whispering to herself and taking notes. Great. If the student body didn’t think Akira was sneaking contraband in yet, they certainly will soon.

Letting out a sigh, Morgana shakes his head heads downstairs. His bag feels - _is_ \- lighter without Akira in it, and while he’d never admit it, it’s left him feeling a little nervous. Still, even with Takemi’s trial looming over his head, and the absence of Akira, he can’t help but feel excited. After all, today is the first day he can truly do whatever he wants as a human! Just the thought is enough to get him smiling again.

_“Man, what is up with Kurusu? He’s way too happy today.”_

_“He was yesterday too! What if it’s ‘cause he got away with something big?”_

_“Oooh, maybe.”_

_“Quiet down! What if he hears you, huh?”_

Morgana roughly shoulders his bag, slipping past the whispering duo. He has to bite back a remark; Akira would not be happy with him if he caused a scene at school.

“Honestly, don’t they have anything better to do?” He mutters under his breath, instead, his smile curling into a frown.

 _“Wait, is he frowning?”_  

_“Shit! Maybe we, uh, should leave.”_

Morgana ignores them as they run past him up the stairs. They’re not like Ryuji. His jabs might be brainless, but at least the blond actually knows who he’s talking to. These people are bad-mouthing Akira, and they’ve never bothered to actually try talking to him; they’re just judging him based on a perception caused by Kamoshida. A perception they already know is biased!

Morgana shakes his head. Why do so many humans just accept what others tell them as fact?

Pushing open the doors to Shujin, Morgana steps out and pauses. What exactly is he going to do? Takemi might be later, but he still has a few hours until then. He could explore, he thinks, quickly walking aside and pulling out Akira’s phone. But where? Perhaps for sushi...

A sudden clattering sound snaps Morgana out of his thoughts - and almost makes him fumble the phone.

Glancing about, he sees an auburn haired girl in gym clothes struggling with some bags stacked onto a metal bin. She’s shaking her head to herself at the sight of one of the bags spilling out a pile of dirt.

Morgana can’t recall seeing her around Shujin, but considering how he normally stays hidden in a bag, it’s not surprising. And he can’t just leave someone to deal with this mess all by themselves.

“Hello. Would you like some help?” He asks, walking over.

“Oh!” The girl exclaims, quickly turning around to face him. Now that’s she’s facing him, Morgana can see she has poofy auburn hair and warm brown eyes. She seems confused by the offer, but quickly smiles at him. “Why, yes, that would be lovely! Thank you.” She responds, in a soft voice.

Gesturing to the pile of bags, she says, “If you would, could you grab one of these and follow me to the roof, please? I’ll clean up the mess once we’re done.”

“Of course. It’ll be easy!” He says. Lifting one with a grunt, Morgana immediately regrets his words. Just one bag is heavy to keep suspended, and they have to walk it up four flights of stairs?! _It’s a good thing Akira’s been working out._ What they do in the Metaverse doesn’t necessarily carry back over, but the other way around certainly does.

Somehow, the girl doesn’t seem to show signs of fatigue on the walk up, the only hint of strain on her part being some heavier breathing. She leads him up past even more whispering students - thankfully most of them seem to have left the halls for club meetings - and holds the door to the roof open for him.

He quickly steps through and places the bag on the ground toward the abandoned chairs. Catching his breath, Morgana looks over to the girl as she props her own load against the pile of desks nearby.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is this for, anyway? Are you part of a gardening club?”

“Oh, there’s no club. I have a small garden on the roof, you see.” Satisfied with the bags, she turns back to him and gives him a small smile. “I know, it’s supposed to be closed off, but after I explained myself, I was allowed to use it in my spare time.”

“Really? Have you been gardening for long?” He asks, walking back toward the door.

“Since I was quite young.” She nods. “I find it quite fulfilling. Though, I will admit, the fruit and vegetables aren't always the best tasting…”

“You’re still learning,” Holding to door open for her, Morgana nods his head. “I’m sure with more practice your harvests will be delicious.”

“That’s kind of you to say,” The girl giggles, starting down the steps. “Are you speaking from experience?”

“Actually, I, uh…” Morgana’s eyes widen, and he counts his blessings that she doesn’t see him stammer for a moment. “W-well, not food! I do work at a, a florist down in the Underground Mall.”

“Oh, I’ve been there before!” She says. Coming to a stop, she turns and whispers, “I’ve actually wanted to apply there before, but I’ve always been afraid to try.”

“Maybe you’re afraid, but you want it, right?”

She blinks. “Well, yes. I do.”

Morgana lets out a laugh, stepping past her to the bottom floor.

“Then you should apply! Even if it looks frightening now, you’ll quickly start to enjoy it. Probably.”

The girl laughs, quickly walking to catch up with him.

“You make it sound so easy.”

“Well, applying is the easy part. Doing the work, on the other hand, not so much,” Speaking of work, when does he need to go to Akira’s other part time jobs? Akira hadn’t mentioned anything changing, but it might have slipped the teenager’s mind. He’ll just ask about it tonight, he thinks, with the mental equivalent of a shrug.

Two more trips, a cleaned up pile of dirt, and numerous questions answered about the many kinds of flowers Morgana can’t quite remember later, the two step onto the roof one last time.

With the final bag placed down, Morgana lets out a heavy sigh.

“Those were way heavier than they looked.” He says, careful not to take on a grousing tone. Actually, he feels great - somewhere around halfway up with the second bag he’d felt the exercise high kicking in.

“They did weigh about fourteen kilograms. Certainly a bit more than usual, but it means I should be set for quite a while!” The girl whirls around. “Oh my, I haven’t even introduced myself. I am Haru Okumara.”

“I’m M-” He bites his tongue. Appearances, need to keep up appearances. “... Akira. Akira Kurusu.” Haru hums to herself, cupping her chin in thought.

“I think I’ve heard your name before…”

“Probably in the halls. The rumor mill hasn’t stopped talking about... Me, since I got here.” Morgana says, shaking his head with a sigh.  Her eyes widen in recognition.

“Ah, yes. So you’re the delinquent they’re all whispering about.” She drops her hand and lets out a giggle. “Well, I must say they’re rather off base. You were a perfect gentleman.”

“Of course!” He responds, the widest grin rising to his face. “A gentleman would never leave a lady to struggle on her own.” His grin falters after a moment, eyeing the bags warily. “Though, you didn’t seem to struggle all that much.” He adds.

“I’m quite used to the heavy lifting for my garden back home.” She admits. “But it goes so much faster with an extra pair of hands!” Before he can respond, Morgana feels a vibration in his pocket.

“Oh, one second.” He rolls his eyes at the name. A text from Ryuji? He opens the text up.

_Ryuji: Yo, heads up. Don’t wanna miss your job, right?_

Glancing at the time, Morgana grunts. When was the next train again? Shaking his head, he looks up at Haru and flashes an apologetic smile.

“I have to run for work, but if you ever need any help I’ll be right there for you!”

“Why thank you, Kurusu-kun.” Haru smiles, waving after him. “Have a good afternoon.”

* * *

 

_7/2/2016, Saturday After School_

“So, running with a cat in my bag can make said, uh, cat feel sick,” Ryuji says, rubbing the back of his neck. “I think I can honestly say I learned something today.”

Akira doesn’t respond, his small furred body prone on the ground beside Ryuji’s bag. He’s all drawn inwards, tail flicking back and forth. _He looks so small like that_.

He really hadn’t meant to just dash off the train like that, but he hadn’t been able to talk to Akira about yesterday after Ann dragged him away.

So now here they are, sitting on the grass by the river of Inokashira Park, where (hopefully) no one will see him having a conversation with a cat. The lack of answer from Akira is more than little worrying, though.

“Uh, you okay dude? Sorry about running so fast, I just wanted to get as much time as possible with ya before I needed to take ya back.”

“I’m alright, Ryuji,” Akira says, finally pushing himself up onto his hind feet. He looks up at Ryuji. “But please, don’t do that again. There isn’t any rush, and I’m not sure my stomach can handle it.”

“Yeah, sorry dude.” He lets out a heavy groan. “But I can’t just text you like normal. Not without Morgana seeing it, anyway.”

“I’m sure he’d only tease us a little bit.” An absolutely devilish smile rises to his face, and Ryuji feels his face burning as he adds, “Unless it was something _very_ private you were thinking of sending.”

“D-dude!” Ryuji sputters. On the water, a rower pauses, glancing about wildly as if startled.

“I’m kidding,” Akira laughs. Despite it being in Morgana’s voice, Ryuji doesn’t hear that same mocking tone underneath. Just friendly amusement. “And, I understand. I tried to text you when Morgana fell asleep last night.”

Ryuji blinks down at him.

“For real? But I didn’t get anythin’.”

Akira sits back, rubbing at his ear. “Yeah. Turns out, pawpads aren’t… The best… For onscreen keyboards.”

“Tough break, dude.” Ryuji lets out a chuckle.

Akira hums in response, turning to face the water. Ryuji doesn’t quite get what the others were saying before, about Akira being ‘more catlike’ than Morgana. The dude is just acting like he always has.

“By the way, what exactly happened yesterday after Ann kidnapped you?” Akira asks.

Ryuji shrugs, grabbing his phone out of his bag.

“We studied.” He answers, ignoring the notification from Ann front and center on the screen.

“I’m so proud of you,” Akira says, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye.

“You would be, you nerd,” Ryuji snorts. Another notification pings and he pointedly ignores it.

“I’m your nerd.” Akira states proudly, placing a paw on Ryuji’s arm. It feels so soft… And tiny. “Did Ann get you to tell her?”

“H-how did you-!” A light blush dusts Ryuji’s cheeks and he looks back out over the water. “Yeah.”

Soft laughter escapes Akira.

“That’s okay. She’s been suspicious for a while.”

“Why ya say that?”

“Well, I’d ask her stuff about you, you know. Things you like, or places you wanted to go. She laughed at me the third time I did it, and just said ‘If you asked Ryuji to just lay on the ground with you for an hour, he’d tell you he had a blast afterwards.’” Akira’s smile fades. “Though I had to ask your mom when your birthday was. Ann didn’t know and you never told me.”

“Wha-” Shit, not exactly where he’d hoped this conversation would go. He looks away, rubbing at his neck. “Oh. Yeah, well I just didn’t want to make a big deal about it. We had to take down Kaneshiro, ya know?”

“And he has been.” Ryuji doesn’t respond. He feels Akira placing his hands - err, paws - on his thigh. “Ryuji, your birthday is tomorrow. You were going to just let it pass by without any of us doing a thing.”

He groans, throwing his hands up. “And what if I was! It doesn’t matter, dude, it’s just a birthday.”

Akira settles back, a small frown on his face. Ryuji keeps expecting a quick witted jab whenever he looks at the cat. It’s sort of ingrained. But then he opens his mouth and Ryuji remembers it’s actually Akira in there.

“If you really don’t want to do anything, that’s fine. But we all want to do something with you, Ryuji.” Ryuji bites back ‘ _Only you do_ ’ as Akira continues. “And… Even if I can’t do it as a human, I still want to spend my day with you tomorrow.”

Ryuji can feel his face going red at that admission, his counter-argument dying on his lips.

“Damnit, how can you still be so smooth like this, dude?” He mumbles instead.

“Because I’m the rogue who stole your heart,” He teases. “And you stole mine. So please, let’s do something tomorrow, for you. Please?”

Ryuji tries not to look. He tells himself that the only reason he even entertains agreeing is because it’s _Akira_ asking and not because he looks adorable right now.

“Alright, fine, dude. But only because we’re dating. And you’d better let us return the favor on _your_ birthday too, okay?”

“Purr-fect,” Akira says with a laugh. As Ryuji groans, he taps at Ryuji’s phone. “Can you let Ann know we’re set for tomorrow then?”

“Of course you guys already planned it. And what do I need to do tomorrow?” Ryuji says, not truly able to get annoyed as he starts responding to Ann’s messages.

_Ann: Hey, are you with Akira right now?_

_Ann: I’ll accept being ignored if that’s the case_

_Ann: But if it isn’t..._

_Ryuji: Yeah, I am._

_Ryuji: You nerds can go ahead with your plan btw_

_Ann: Perfect! You’ll love it._

_Ann: And who you calling a nerd, lover boy?_

_Ryuji: YOU_

_Ryuji: And_ **_lover boy?!_ **

_Ann: Have fun on your date~_

Before Ryuji can respond, Akira speaks up. “So, what’s it like dating a cat?”

Ryuji looks over at him, a bewildered expression on his face.

“What? You’re not a cat, dude!” At Akira’s raised eyebrow - _Man that looks so out of place_ \- Ryuji sighs, throwing his phone toward his bag. “You know what I mean. You’re still Akira, my _human_ boyfriend. So what if you’re in the body of one? I ain’t gonna treat you different.”

Akira stares up at him for a moment before suddenly leaping into Ryuji’s lap.

“Now who’s being smooth, hmm? I’m lucky you can’t see me blush.” Akira teases. He plants his paws on the blonde’s chest and, when Ryuji looks down in surprise, nuzzles into his chin.

Warmth spreads through his chest as he wraps his arms loosely around Akira’s small form. Akira’s paws settle onto his shoulders and they stay for a moment. Yet, it feels wrong, feeling fur under his fingers.

“It’s not the same, dude,” Ryuji says, finally, releasing Akira back onto his lap.

Akira lets out a sigh.

“Ryuji, I really don’t know how long I’m going to be stuck like this-”

“I… I know.” He shakes his head and scowls. “But this just sucks, dude! You don’t deserve this shit, turning into a cat and being stuck like this, especially after all the crap you’ve been through!” Ryuji says, slamming a fist on the ground beside him.

A couple of birds let out startled chirps and quickly fly out of the tree above them. Akira watches them fly off without responding, unruffled.

Damnit. This wasn’t how he wanted the afternoon to go at all. Ryuji just wanted to spend some time with his boyfriend, and talk things out a bit. Show him he still thinks he’s an amazing guy. Support him.

Well, they can’t hug the same, but maybe he can try something else?

“Hey, uh, is it… Is it cool with you if I pet ya?” Ryuji asks.

Akira freezes, and he immediately regrets asking.

“I mean, I get if you don’t wanna!” Ryuji hastily adds. “It’s just, it’s supposed to be comforting, right? And I want to make you comfortable. It’s like a massage! You know, because I can’t really -”

“It’s alright, Ryuji.” Akira interrupts. “I trust you.”

Hesitantly, Ryuji places his hand down onto Akira’s back. He doesn’t comment on how Akira is shaking subtly under his fingers. At his friend’s encouraging nod, Ryuji slowly rubs down from neck to lower back.

“Dude, you’re like, so damn soft.”

A soft purr escapes Akira, and damnit Ryuji wishes he could snap a picture of his friend. “You know you just complimented Morgana, right?” Akira says with a laugh. “It is his body, after all.”

“Ah, shut up and enjoy this, damn it.”

Ryuji can’t say he’s ever seen the appeal of cats. Dogs run with you. Dogs are always excited to see you. Dogs won’t claw at you for getting to close, or call you stupid… Well, maybe that last one is just a Morgana thing. But he has to admit, petting one is kinda nice. Even though it’s his boyfriend, in his talking cat’s body…

He should stop thinking about this.

Instead, he looks down and asks, “Hey, what’s it like? You know, having to go around on four legs and all that.”

“Being a cat is weird.” Akira admits. “I keep wanting to stand on my feet, and everything is loud. Like listening to a surround sound theater next to a dumpster. Oh!” He lets out a purr as Ryuji rubs right behind his head. “But, you know… As bizarre as it is, watching my own body move and talk and know it’s Morgana, I’m happy for him. In a, ‘Why is my life like this,’ sort of way.”

“Dude, this is why you’re ridiculous.” The blonde teenager shakes his head. “You’re stuck in the cat’s body, and you’re still thinking about how _he_ feels?”

“Morgana is my friend.” Akira rolls his neck. “And he’s everyone else’s friend too. He does care, you know.”

“I mean, you and Makoto, maybe. The two of you both actually plan shit out with him. And ‘Lady Ann’ can do no wrong.” Ryuji sighs. “Even Yusuke gets respect. But that cat would never call me a friend, dude.”

Akira shuffles himself out of Ryuji’s hand and turns to look into his eyes. “Then the two of you need to talk things out.”

“Sure, we can. But I don’t see it changing anything, Akira.” He says, “Besides, I’m more worried about him messin’ stuff up for you. Not ‘cause he’s trying to, but because he doesn’t know any better.”

“He has a lot to learn.” Akira concedes. “But he’s been doing a decent job so far.”

Ryuji shakes his head.

“But how long until he slips up? Mona has an ego, and someone’s gonna bruise it and then what? It's your name that’ll be screwed, dude!”

“I know that,” Akira interrupts. His voice is soft as he adds, “I can’t spend time worrying about that.”

“I’m sorry, dude. Listen, I’m glad Morgana can be human for a bit. The dude seems really put out about being a cat, and while I don’t buy that he was human before, I wanna help him out.” Ryuji sighs, rubbing a thumb slowly over his friend’s back. “But I’d much rather have you hugging me right now, Akira.”

“... Me too.” He sighs. “But please, can you try to talk things out with him? Not tomorrow, but… Soon. We’re all a team, and we need to look out for each other.”

 _There’s no point,_ is what he wants to say. But if he never gives it a real shot, he’s just letting Akira down. And maybe he’ll be more tolerable now that he has a human body. Morgana always whines about not getting to do things with them, after all...

So instead, he lets out a heavy groan and says, “I will, I will! But he better stop callin’ me a dumbass.” Akira nods.

“He will. I’ll make sure of it.” He pats Ryuji’s hand. “And thank you.”

“Anytime, dude,” Ryuji says, leaning back onto the grass.

“I know you need to get home and help your mom, but can we just lay here for a little longer?” Akira asks, tilting his head back toward the water. He lets out a tiny sigh and settles back on Ryuji’s stomach. “I’m just… Tired.”

“Of course, dude,” Ryuji says, running a hand over his back once more as he closes his eyes. “Anything you want.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are again, with more characters and more deep talks. This was a ton of fun to write, personally, and due to my writing patterns (read: throwing every thought at the page and jumping between developing each one at once) the next chapter already has a decent chunk finished as well!
> 
> P.S. Chronicdelusionist's art is super sweet, like look at it! It also compliments my apparent AU world where the doors of to the roof are push/pull and not sliding. Also, all credit to them for this week's chapter title!
> 
> Trivia Fun: There wasn't going to be any Ryuji at all in this chapter. Then I started thinking of ways to get Morgana alone, and he was the first to mind... After Ann, anyway.


	4. Tae Takemi: Claws for Concern

_ 7/3/2016, Saturday Evening _

Tae Takemi peers up at the sound of the clinic door sliding open. A familiar messy-haired teenager strolls in almost robotically. 

“Hello, Takemi-san,” Kurusu says. If Takemi didn’t know better, she would swear that he sounds nervous.

“My, no need to sound like you’re walking into prison,” She quips, standing up. “Come into the examination room.”

They both enter the familiar space of the clinic room, Kurusu hopping up and sitting in his place on the medical bed. She takes a moment to pull up the relevant files and clear away some papers before turning to him.

“You know, I was thinking you wouldn’t show up after all.” She says, balancing a notepad on her knees and steepling her fingers. 

“I would never miss an appointment.” Kurusu says with a shrug. She scoffs. “And you only said to be here before six.” He adds, eyeing her desk carefully. 

“You’re not wrong.” Turning around, she picks up the container filled with today’s test medicine – a passerby would call it poison, the way Kurusu is eyeing it – and pours a dose into a cup. Tae turns back, dangling it in front of the teenager. “So in that case, here.” She says. “Unless you’ve decided that this deal is off?”

“Of course not.” He says, hastily snatching the cup out of her hand. Downing it like a shot, Kurusu scrunches up his nose but says nothing else as he hands it back to her. 

Sitting down in her seat, Tae pulls out a pen and eyes him. 

“How does it taste?” She asks.

“Terrible,” He lets out a yawn. “Maybe add something to sweeten it up a little…”

She rolls her eyes. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. And how do you feel?”

“I feel great.” He says. Tae notes that he proceeds to lay down as he says so. “By the way, could I place an order for another patch?”

She raises an eyebrow. “Why, did you already ruin it?”

Kurusu mirrors her falteringly. His eyebrows sluggishly inches upwards for a moment, before falling back down when he closes his eyes. “‘Course not. I just need it for my tests...”

He passes out. She had increased the dosage this time - she  _ needs  _ to know if anything could happen, not that it should - so it’s not surprising. 

With that, Tae goes about taking the unconscious teenager’s vitals. After everything is recorded, she sits back into her chair and observes, clipboard and pen out as she begins analyzing her data. 

When first checking in for an examination, Kurusu had told her he had done gymnastics for a few years. Given the way he’s currently contorting his limbs, Tae assumes he picked it up again recently. The average person doesn’t have the muscle development for stretching in such a manner. He’d never mentioned doing so… She’ll just ask when (if, she thinks dryly) he comes in for a real appointment.  _ If he is doing gymnastics again, I doubts he’s eating enough to keep up with the calorie– _

Her train of thought derails when something in the room  _ purrs _ .

She looks up from her notepad, eyes trained on Kurusu. After a moment, she hears it again. A purring sound coming right from the kid’s throat. Well, that’s a new one. Her eyes widen and she suppresses a laugh as the scene continues.

Akira is  _ licking his hand _ . As Tae observes, her passed out test subject begins to rub the saliva-slicked hand against his head, almost like a cat.  _ He is never living this down, _ she thinks to herself, debating whether she should take a picture for later or not.

“Like this, Akira.” He murmurs. “Not too fast…”

_ Why is he saying his own name? _

As she watches, he suddenly seems satisfied and twists to lay on his back. Tae supposes she isn’t going to find out. It was probably just some odd dream. 

With a shrug, she goes back to her clipboard. It’s certainly not the strangest thing her lab rat has done while drugged.

It’s close, though.

* * *

When he comes to, Morgana winces at the dry feeling in his mouth. He’s still not fully used to waking up in a human body, and he’s finding it difficult to appreciate it when said human body feels like it’s been taken out to the cleaners in his absence. Weakly blinking open his eyes, he can see Takemi observing him from her seat…  _ Why is everything sideways? _ Right, he’d laid down after drinking that foul concoction.

“Why does my mouth taste like cotton? What was even in that?” He says, letting out a yawn. 

“Probably an aftereffect. Perfectly natural, but let me know if your mouth goes completely numb,” Tae says, jotting down notes. “As for the drink, there was just some dihydrogen monoxide in there, as well as acetylsalicylic acid–” 

Morgana’s eyes widen, and he immediately shoots up to sit straight. 

“Wh-what?!” 

“Water and aspirin.” She chuckles at him. 

“Oh.”  _ She thinks she’s teasing Akira. It’s fine.  _ He lets out a chuckle of his own. “Of course they were.”

“I probably shouldn’t name the rest of them, though.” Tae muses. Morgana stares. Should he ever ask? “You seem a bit on edge.” She continues.

“There’s a lot going on lately.” He admits, stretching his arms. He watches Takemi out of the corner of his eye, mind racing. Is she watching him strangely? “I’ve been helping plan a surprise party for a friend and studying for tests, and I’ve been working on top of everything.”

“You know, there is such a thing as overworking yourself.” She gives him a pointed look. 

“I like to think of it as keeping busy.” Morgana says, smiling back. “Besides, I make sure to go to sleep on time. Unlike some people I know.”

Tae lets out a chuckle that goes on to edge uncomfortably close to becoming a cackle. 

“You’re quite the curious specimen, my guinea pig.” She smirks. “Or maybe I should start calling you my kitty cat?”

“W-what?” Morgana says, flinching.  _ She couldn’t possibly know! _ If she knows, what could happen? This was not part of the plan! He glances about looking for anything that can help. His eyes settle on the grey ones in the mirror behind Tae and his panicked thoughts come to a crashing halt. Right. Akira. He looks like Akira. What would  _ Akira _ say?

As Tae raises an eyebrow at him, Morgana schools his expression and sends her an exasperated smile. 

“Not you too.” He says with a shake of his head.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She asks, leaning forward in her chair.

“First my friends tell me I’m a cat, and now my doctor?” He stretches his arms over his head,  lips curling into a smirk. “I think you’re all imagining things.”

She crosses her arms, leaning back in her seat with a soft laugh. 

“Well, if your friends have seen you trying to teach your cat how to clean itself, perhaps there’s some basis for their hypothesis.” Tae retorts. “Did you pick up a stray kitten somewhere? If so, I can refer you to a vet to check them out.”

“Oh, you can’t do it?” Morgana asks, and Takemi scoffs at him. 

“I work on humans. I’m not a vet.”

“I just assumed you could handle anything,” Morgana says, letting out a cough. Tae hums, walking over to the sink and filling another cup. Turning, she holds it out for him. 

“Drink. It should help bring some feeling back to your mouth.” Morgana eyes it carefully, ignoring her bemused expression. “Unless you don’t trust my sink anymore.” 

“Should I not?” He asks, finally taking it from her.

“You’ve trusted me for this long. What’s trusting my sink?” Tae says. He can hear the amusement in her voice.

He can’t argue with that one. Though Morgana would hardly call the start of Akira’s relationship with Tae built on trust. More like desperation. 

“It wouldn’t do to stay on an empty stomach for long either…” Tae continues. “I have some apples, if you’d like.”

“A doctor, giving away apples?” Morgana grins at her, reaching once again for an Akira-appropriate response. “It’s like you don’t want to see me anymore, Takemi-san.”

“I’d be glad to be rid of you. I can hardly catch my breath with all the work you’ve brought me.” She gives a rueful shake of her head. “One of my elderly patients brought them to me as a gift. I can hardly eat them all by myself before they rot, so why waste them?”

Morgana’s response is interrupted by a loud knock and a somewhat tired-sounding older man’s voice.

“Hello, Doctor Takemi.”

Morgana swears he sees Takemi stiffen up at the greeting. Turning, Morgana sees a middle-aged man with a suitcase walk in. 

“Chief Oyamada. To what do I owe the pleasure?” 

“Hello,  _ doctor _ . There was a conference in the area, so I thought I’d come check up on you and your practice.” Oyamada looks over Morgana. He doesn’t like the way he’s being eyed. “Am I interrupting something? This boy don’t look like a patient.”

“He’s-”

“Part time staff.” Morgana interrupts, a cheerful smile on his face.  “With the rise in clients, I’ve been helping Doctor Takemi to make her life a little easier.”

“Exactly.” The look Takemi shoots Morgana sends a shiver down his spine. Turning back to Oyamada, she raises an eyebrow. “Do you have any business with me, then?” She asks, earlier stiffness gone. She sounds almost bored..

He’s quiet for a moment, observing her. Takemi is a picture of composure.

“...I hear you stole a patient of mine. A girl with bronchitis. She apparently came here with her father around a month or so ago.” Oh, Morgana thinks. Akira had mentioned something about a sick girl that the hospital couldn’t help. What, is this guy pissed it made him look bad?

“Bronchitis?” Tae says. She tilts her head and shrugs. “Well, if I did, I  never had the intention of doing so. I certainly never encouraged her to visit this clinic.” Morgana almost laughs at that.

“Your _intentions_ have made a fool out of my hospital!” Oyama snaps. “There’s talk that some general practitioner has the tools to cure people that even a university hospital cannot provide.”

“Well, that would be ridiculous. I’m sure any hospital is much better than my little clinic.” Tae says. She gives him another small shrug, hands relaxed on her clipboard. “Any clients that come in only provide me funding. Like I’ve told you numerous times, I’m working on my own medicine.”

“You mean your ‘original medicine?’” Oyamada scoffs. “What you’re doing here is absurd, and a danger to everyone involved.” 

“...You’re right.” She admits. Morgana glances at her, unable to hide his  surprise. “But as long as anyone who takes the medication signs the proper paperwork, they know what they’re getting into.”

“Oh, do they? I find that doubtful.” Oyamada sneers back at her. “I would’ve turned a blind eye if you’d just rotted away in this pathetic little town, but this is your final warning.” He glances at his watch, disgust on his face when he looks back to her. “Shut this excuse of a practice down and resign your medical license.”

_ Geez, this guy is ridiculous. What’s Takemi supposed to do, kick the sick to the streets?  _ Morgana thinks.  _ He could be in Mementos… But better not to assume. _

“Why not hire her back instead?” Morgana pipes up, interrupting Tae’s rebuke. “After all, if she’s really getting this reputation for solving problems you can’t, wouldn't it make you look better to have her on your payroll?

The room falls silent. Morgana meets Oyamada’s gaze, ignoring Tae’s stare.

The sound of soft chuckling fills the room. It quickly turns into full out laughter at an unamused Morgana’s expense. 

“For someone helping this woman, you clearly don’t know a lot about her. Do you even know who she really is?” Oyamada says. His expression hardens. “She’s a monster who tortured a patient with her unregulated medicine! No legal process, no paperwork… Terrible, isn’t it? She was always such a brave girl, always smiling.”

“Well, Takemi-san is-”

“What do you mean,  _ was _ ?” Tae interrupts, narrowing her eyes. 

Oyamada blinks, face stoic as he answers. “She passed away.” 

The temperature in the room plummets.

Oyamada clicks his tongue, ignoring Tae to focus his gaze to Morgana. 

“Perhaps you’ll suffer the same fate? After all, working with ‘The Plague’ certainly isn’t good for your health.” He says, with a huff of laughter, as if he hadn’t just mentioned someone’s death.

Morgana narrows his eyes, but before he can snap back at the man, Tae steps right up into Oyamada’s face. 

“Don’t lie to me. She should still have some time!” She shakes her head, glaring into the now unamused doctor’s eyes. “She was slowly recovering. There’s no reason her condition should have deteriorated so rapidly!”

He raises an eyebrow. “But it did. You  _ misjudged _ . This wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened.” Oyamada places his suitcase on the nearby desk and clicks it open, revealing paperwork. Sifting through, he plucks out a single file and hands it out to Tae.

Morgana watches as she takes it, more than a little surprised when he notices her freeze up.

Glancing at his watch again, Oyamada lets out a huff. 

“Now, back to the reason I am here. Don’t ever take another patient from me again.” He clicks his suitcase shut and starts to leave. “You don’t want to make me angry.”

Oyamada pauses at the door, hand on the handle.

“Oh, and keep the file. It’s a copy. I’m sure you’d like to go over it, and prove your mistake to yourself.”

Tae stares down at the file in her hands, shock still as the sound of receding footsteps echoes throughout the clinic.

“Takemi-san?” Morgana finally speaks up, slowly standing from the bed. She hasn’t moved, still staring down at the paperwork.

A moment later, she collapses onto her knees, the paperwork scattering everywhere.

“Takemi-san!” He shouts, rushing over.

“Miwa-chan… You’re dead?” She doesn’t seem to hear him, just clutching at her clipboard. Her knuckles are white. “No, no no… But she’s all I’ve been working toward, all this time. What have I been doing all this time? What was the point? If she’s dead...” 

What does he do here? He’s pretty sure even Akira wouldn’t know. Morgana starts collecting the fallen papers in silence. He can’t help but read them, lips curling into a frown as he does so. Whoever Miwa-chan is, the girl has definitely been through a lot. Could she really be dead, after surviving for so long?

He doesn’t believe it. 

“We can still keep going.” Morgana says. Takemi slowly turns her head toward him. She doesn’t seem to notice the hand he offers her to get up. “You’ve done all this work, and you said it yourself. You’re so close!”

“Kurusu, there isn’t a point.” She shakes her head, ignoring it. “This was all for Miwa-chan.”

“If you said she should still have time, then she should still have time.” Why is she doubting herself like this? 

“I was wrong, Kurusu.” Takemi says, waving the file at his face. “She’s dead!”

“I don’t believe that. Ak-” Morgana cuts himself off, glaring down at the folder in his hands. “All your clients trust you.” He says, slowly. “If you say you didn’t make a mistake, then you didn’t.”

“Read the files, Kurusu.” She shakes her head as she stands up. “This isn’t some ploy.”

“Well… Why can’t you go see her?”

She rolls her eyes. “Ignoring that she is  _ dead _ , I am prohibited from seeing her, as my ‘help’ was what worsened her condition in the first place.” 

“Even if what Oyamada said is true, think of all the good you can do with this!” Morgana shouts. He’s dimly aware that he’s getting worked up, and forgetting to act like Akira. He finds that he can’t bring himself to care. “There are other people who could benefit from your work. Are you really going to let that stuffed up penguin tell you what to do?!”

His shout dies out to a deafening silence. Takemi doesn’t answer, pulling herself to her feet to look at him. Despite her shorter stature, even in her massive heels, Morgana feels tiny beneath her gaze.

“That’s all for today, Kurusu. You may leave.” Takemi says. There’s not a hint of emotion, only an icy indifference. “Now.”

Morgana stares at her. She really isn’t even going to try to stand up for herself?  _ How?  _ He doesn’t understand why she’s just giving up hope like this. He realizes he has a scowl on his face and takes a slow breath. Clearly, he isn’t getting anywhere like this. He nods at her.

“Fine.”

Morgana grabs his bag, flinging the file in. 

“Goodnight, Doctor,” He says, and storms out of the room. 

* * *

“...And she just wouldn’t listen!” Morgana finishes.

Akira says nothing in response, just staring up at him. Morgana hesitates, breaking eye contact.

They’re up in Akira’s room, Morgana perched on the edge of the couch seat. He’d relayed the story of his ill-fated appointment to Akira as soon as he’d gotten back, Akira having already arrived from his trip with Ryuji.

“She’ll just message you back, right?” Morgana says, finally.

“I’m not so sure.” Akira sighs, body sagging. “It sounds like she was really pissed.”

“I’m sorry,” Morgana’s shoulders drop. “I couldn’t just watch her give up like that. Not after everything both of you have done.”

“I understand, Morgana,” Akira sits back, pawing at his ear. “But, this is an actual death certificate. There’s not much we can do.”

“But there has to!” He glares at the files. “This must be a fake, right? … Right?” Morgana looks over to Akira.

Akira just shakes his head, stepping beside the papers. His tails flicks absently from side to side. 

“I’m no expert, but these look real.” He says, finally. “And there are a lot of different signatures on some of these papers. Maybe if it were only one, I’d agree with you, but there are at least seven different names.”

It just doesn’t add up. Oyamada clearly wanted Takemi to stop her work. He frowns, sinking into the couch. No, more than that. He wanted Takemi to be  _ crushed _ . 

Morgana flips through the file, not really absorbing what he’s looking at. 

“...There’s really nothing I can do?” He asks.

“About this? I don’t think so,” Akira says, hopping off the table and onto the couch. “The only thing I can suggest is going to her tomorrow before Ryuji’s party and apologizing. If she doesn’t want to keep testing after that, then… Well, we’ll work something out then.”

“... I just don’t see why this happened.” Morgana says, fighting a rising lump in his throat. It’s another new experience, but he doesn’t feel good about a human sensation for once. “Takemi was doing everything right…”

Akira is quiet for a moment. 

“Remember the first time one of us fell in a fight?” He asks.

Morgana nods. 

“Yeah, Ryuji in Madarame’s Palace. Those Onmoraki were incredibly dangerous, and he’d been struck by a Mudo spell.” The blond’s sudden collapse had sent both Akira and Lady Ann into a frenzy. Even Morgana will admit that the sight of the rowdy teenager just… Falling over, eyes frozen wide in surprise, terrified him.

“Right,” Akira says, jumping up beside him. “Now, would you say we did anything wrong while fighting them? At the time, anyway.”

He shakes his head. 

“Exactly. We were approaching things as well as we could back then.” Akira kneads Morgana’s leg. He tries not to wince as Akira’s claws poke through the fabric of his pants. “But things still went wrong. If we didn’t have that medication…”

“We would have revived him when we escaped… Probably.” Morgana mumbles. He doesn’t like how he isn’t sure  _ why  _ he thinks that. Does he just  _ want _ it to be true? “But here there’s no cognition to make cure-alls for our every need.”

“Sometimes, things happen.” Akira nods. “Just look at me, and my circumstances. Or Ryuji’s. He didn’t ask for a drunken father. Just like Yusuke couldn’t prepare for Madarame’s treatment.” He turns away, voice soft. “Things can just… Happen. And all we can do is move forward from there.”

Morgana doesn’t say anything in return, staring at the back of Akira’s head. He doesn’t know what to say. It sounds like Akira’s giving up, but Akira is the kind of person who  _ never _ gives up. He can’t reconcile it, but at the same time, he can, because he physically feels the weight of Akira’s words pressing down on his chest.

Part of him has accepted defeat, and it hurts. He doesn’t know what to do with it.

“Life moves on.” Akira says, turning back to him. “Come on, it’s getting late, and I don’t want you falling asleep on your feet tomorrow.” After a moment, he pats Morgana’s arm. 

“Yeah. If I’m going to be listening to Ryuji all day, I’ll need it.” Morgana forces out.

Later, long settled under the blanket and a softly snoring Akira, Morgana lies awake. Their conversation echoes through his thoughts. 

Is there really no hope for Tae Takemi?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in time before my final projects are due comes the latest chapter! Unfortunately, that means there shall be delays for the next chapter, between finals and the holidays. But there shall be more to come! Until then I hope you all enjoy!
> 
> P.S. Chronicdelusionist just told me not to compliment them and their awesome art, but I'm just gonna do it anyway. 
> 
> Trivia Fun: I rewrote about two-thirds of this chapter because I kept writing it in Takemi's perspective for some reason. She's quite fun to write, once I got her 'voice' in my head.


	5. The Phantom Thieves in: Cat-apulting Forward

_ 7/3/2016, Sunday Morning _

Each step toward the clinic fills Morgana’s legs with a little more a shakiness. He doesn’t know why. He’s just going to apologize for yesterday. There’s nothing difficult about this, he tells himself. He’s done this before! Admittedly, before that had only been to Akira, for  _ apparently  _ going too far when teasing Ryuji… And he supposes there had the time he’d gotten trapped in Madarame’s Palace. 

But what was he supposed to do,  _ not  _ take a closer peek at such an huge treasure? What kind of phantom thief wouldn’t do that?

“Morgana? Are you going to open the door?” Akira asks, poking his head out of the bag over Morgana’s shoulder. 

“Huh?” Morgana asks, blinking over his shoulder in surprise. He’d just been standing in front of the clinic entrance, lost in thought. “Of course! I’m just, thinking about wording. It needs to sound like you when I apologize, after all.”

His friend lets out a hum. 

“I think that as long as you make it clear you know you overstepped your place on this, she’ll accept it.” He says. “Still, she might stop regardless of what you do.”

“That…” Morgana lets out a sigh. “Fine.”

The door slides open, revealing the same drab, grey clinic waiting room as always. Behind the glass sits Takemi, her clipboard raised as she leans back in her chair. Stepping in front of her, Morgana lets out a cough. Takemi glances over whatever she’s reading and raises an eyebrow. 

“Did you experience something out of the ordinary when you woke up this morning? There shouldn’t have been any side effects past a couple of hours.”

Morgana stares for a moment.  _ That’s  _ how she’s greeting him? 

“No, nothing,” He gets out after another moment passes. “Uhm, why?”

“I still run a clinic, and you took an unlicensed medication. I’m still going to take care of you if something goes wrong.” Takemi shrugs, placing her clipboard down. “Though it might not be painless.”

“I… I  understand.” Morgana steels himself, and bows. “I came to apologize for my outburst yesterday.”

“Oh?”

Morgana nods, rising back up. 

“I, spoke out of turn. Even if we’ve been working together for a few months, why you are doing all of this is still technically none of my business. I had no right to question you.”

Takemi doesn’t respond for a moment, only observing Morgana carefully. He doesn’t like the feeling of her eyes trained on his face. 

“You’re right. It is none of your business.” She crosses her arms, face unreadable as always. “I told you why I was working on this all before.” She pauses. “I’ll accept your apology. But–”

Morgana blinks. A catch?

“–I would like to hear the real reason you’re doing all this.” She finishes.

“It’s nothing illegal.” Morgana immediately responds.

Takemi waves him off. “I’m sure. But I need a little bit more detail than that. Come into the examination room.”

As she walks around to get the door, Morgana glances down at Akira. His friend gives him a nod. 

Walking in, Morgana walks by her and takes his seat on the bed. Takemi doesn’t sit down, instead leaning against the door and locking it with a flick of her hand. 

“Answer away.”

“Alright, alright.” Morgana takes a deep breath, dropping his face into a frown. “I work a lot of jobs, so I’m sitting on a large sum of yen most weeks. I have… A few close friends who don’t have much due to family issues.” That isn’t a lie. Yusuke alone is proof. “They have medical issues that your medicine has been working wonders on. That’s why I was so desperate to work with you, to help them.”

“Then why not simply refer them to me? Much less work or danger for you.” 

“There are… Reasons.” Morgana slowly states. “Reasons I’m not at the liberty to say.”

Takemi shrugs, flicking the lock open. 

“Then we’re done here.”

“I’m serious,” Morgana says, glaring at her. “I’m not going to tell you other people’s secrets. They can’t come themselves.”

“Hmm.” The lock flicks back down. “Then why take my offer in the first place?”

Morgana lets out a laugh. 

“You’ve searched my name online, haven’t you?”

“I’ve apparently been working with the aggressor of an assault.” She nods.

“He-” Morgana quickly bites his tongue. Stay in character… “I just wanted to prevent a woman from getting assaulted. I did  _ not _ attack anyone.”

Takemi nods slowly. 

“Frankly, if you were anyone else, I’d call complete bullshit. What kind of person just happens to step in to save a potential rape victim, is willing to spend his own money on drugs for people he’s only known for probably a week,  _ and  _ does it all while taking unlicensed medication?”

“A fool.” Morgana admits. “But that isn’t going to stop me. People don’t deserve to be stepped down on because of circumstance or who they are.”

“...You really are a strange kitty cat.” Morgana’s mental frown must have slipped through into a real one, because Takemi lets out a chuckle as she sits down across from him. “Alright, I believe you.”

“Thank you,” Morgana says. He forces himself to let out a breath. 

Quiet fills the room. 

Akira had explained everything to Morgana; That Takemi had been working to cure some incurable disease, that she’d nearly finished it when she was suddenly removed from her research position. Oyamada’s name had come up during that talk, too…

“Is our deal over, then?” Morgana finally asks, arms crossed. It’s an important question; Having to instead rely on the public pharmacies is much more costly, and their medicine won’t be nearly as effective as Takemi’s.

“I’ll still sell to you.” Takemi shakes her head. “But, with Miwa-chan gone, I really can’t keep working on the medicine. There’s no point.”  

Morgana opens his mouth, but pauses. It’s her choice, right?  

“I understand. If anything comes up, I’m just a text away, Doctor.” He says, standing up. With a bow, he adds, “Thank you for hearing me out.”

Stepping outside, Morgana can’t quite shake the heavy feeling settling in his chest.

“That went well.” Akira says, popping his head out of his bag as Morgana walks down the street toward the station. “Are you alright?”

“She trusts you again, and that’s all that matters.” Morgana says, adding, “And of course I am! I barely even lied in there.”

Akira hums, watching him carefully. 

“So you’re saying I’m a fool?” He finally asks, a hint of a laugh in his voice.

“You trusted Ryuji to not talk non-stop about the phantom thieves,” Morgana deadpans. As he passes the secondhand shop, the owner calls out a greeting, and he barely remembers to smile and wave back at the name ‘Kurusu.’

“We got Makoto on our side in the end.” Akira says. “...But, yes, subtlety is not Ryuji’s strong suit.”

“Obviously,” Morgana snaps back, rolling his eyes. “Good thing you have some. It’s part of why I knew you’d make a great leader.”

“Oh? Here I thought it was my dashing good looks.”

“Hmm, you certainly look the part of the phantom thief. But only in the Metaverse.” He runs a hand through his – Akira’s – hair. “Here, it’s a complete disaster! I’m pretty sure I’d break a brush if I tried to use one.”

“That has never happened.” Akira sniffs haughtily.

“That’s because you don’t own a brush.”

“Details,” Akira says. Morgana can hear the shrug in his voice. “By the way, our train is soon. Better hurry. Ann won’t be happy if we’re late.”

“I know,” He grumbles, rolling his eyes. Buying a gift for Ryuji sounds like such a chore. Shouldn’t Akira already have gotten him one?

Well, at least Ann will be there. The thought alone is enough to bring a smile to Morgana’s face.

* * *

Ann meets them down in the Underground Mall with a cheerful wave before pulling them around, at points literally, to search for last second gifts.

Apparently Morgana’s suggestions are not appreciated.

“Morgana, you are not getting Ryuji  _ food _ for his birthday!” Ann hisses, pulling him away from the convenience store. “We’re already going out for dinner!”

“Why? Food is a great gift.” Morgana says, looking at her with the hint of a smile on his face. “I know I’d be happy with that.”

“You’ve lived your entire life as a cat so far, the only other thing you could possibly want is a new sword to play with.” She says, rolling her eyes.

“T-that’s-”

“Akira, how much are you dropping this time?” Ann cuts him off, glancing at the bag at his side.

“Hmm,” Akira pokes his head out, ignoring Morgana’s look. What does she mean, ‘this time?’ “No cap.”

Ann stares for a moment before letting out a sigh. “You are  _ so  _ going to spoil him, aren’t you?” She says, rubbing her forehead. 

“He’s already spoiling him.” Morgana points out. 

“It’s not spoiling, it’s showing affection.” Akira corrects haughtily.

“Whatever.” Morgana rolls his eyes.

“Well I’m not letting you drop a small fortune on Ryuji. For one thing, you’ll make the rest of us look bad! And another, you need to keep some for yourself.” Ann says. She flashes a smile and adds, “Or for buying me sweets.” 

“Now who wants to be spoiled?” Akira says, smirking up at her.

“Shush. It’s called ‘Treat yo self.’ With your money, but that’s beside the point. Now,” Ann says, grabbing Morgana’s arm and hauling him back down the underground mall. “Let’s see if there’s some accessories he might like around here…”

Morgana half-heartedly lets Ann pull him about, idly drifting about the store (37 ° C, also known as, the only accessory shop Akira can afford). As much as he’s making a fuss about it, Morgana knows he should get something for the blonde. Birthdays are important, right? Humans are always talking about celebrating birthdays and looking forward to the gifts and time spent with friends and family. And Ryuji’s a  _ really _ simple person. He’s going to be more than happy with the ramen joint they picked out, so how hard can it be to find something else he’d like?

Besides, if they’d opted to go to a fancy buffet again, Ryuji would probably just blurt out how they’re gonna steal all the rude rich people’s hearts or something.

“Oh! He’d  _ love  _ this one, don’t you think?” Ann says, interrupting Morgana’s thoughts. She’s holding up a golden bracelet, yellow lightning bolts etched into the sides. 

“Hmm, probably?” Morgana says with a shrug. “It might help him out in the Metaverse, too.”

“Really?” Ann eyes it again, intrigued. “Why do you say that?”

Morgana walks over, so the clerk can’t overhear. He can feel Akira pop his head out of the bag again to watch him as he answers. 

“Well, that bracelet is clearly symbolically linked to electricity. Now, for Ryuji, that could mean it helps him resist it. Or maybe he thinks of it like an enhancement, and it strengthens his spells. The fact that it’s a gift might also enhance its effects for him, because he would probably consider it special somehow. Cognition, remember?” He waves a hand toward the selection of bracelets. “The same could be said about any of the bracelets here. How you perceive them, and their meaning, can have an impact there.”

“Wow. That’s actually kinda crazy to think about…” Ann’s eyes widen. “Oh, that’s why…”

“Why what?” Morgana asks as she trails off.

“Oh, nothing!” Ann hastily waves him off, not-quite-right laughter echoing in the small space. “You know, that makes a lot of sense. I always forget just how much you actually know about that world.”

“Well, I don’t bother to explain much detail.” Morgana grins. “Akira and Ryuji could barely understand me when I dumbed it down!”

“Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me. Here, you take the bracelet, and I’m going to go ask the clerk if they have any red ones.” Ann says, handing him the bracelet before running over to the desk.

Poking his head out, Akira asks, “So is that going to be your gift to him?” 

“Hell no.” Morgana shakes his head. “Twenty-thousand yen is a lot, Akira!” He says, putting it back on its display.

“Money is no object.”

“It is when I’m trying to keep you from going bankrupt. Remember that ‘power stone?’” Morgana hisses.

“We do not talk about the power stone.” Akira says, wrinkling his nose. “And you encouraged it!”

“If you actually had any self-control it wouldn’t have mattered!”

“Probably, but if I’m going to lose something because of it, I’d rather it be money,” Akira says with shrug. “So if you’re not buying the bracelet, what are you getting him?” 

As Ann is gushing over her own choice of bracelet to the clerk, Morgana glances over toward the shoe store next door. He’s not entirely sure why some shoes cost more than others - does it have to do with the color? That sounds ridiculous, but he wouldn’t put it past some humans to market them like that.

His eyes catch on one of the pairs on display, a bright yellow and black checkerboard pattern, with a red highlight around the base. 

“Hmm, what about those?” Morgana says, pointing them out. “You mentioned something about his sneakers wearing out, right?”

Akira follows his hand and nods slowly. 

“Yeah, it’s been a while since he bought new ones.” 

Walking over, Morgana picks them up, only lightly flinching at the price. Ten-thousand yen. Well, at least it’s cheaper than that bracelet.

“How about these, then.” He says, waving them down into Akira’s line of sight. “Ryuji’s always wearing bright colors, this looks like something he’d like.”

“I think he’d love those.” Akira says.

“He’d better, for these prices!” Morgana huffs, walking toward the clerk. It hurts to hand over the pair of five-thousand yen bills, but the smile on Akira’s face as he waits makes Morgana think it’s probably alright… This time.

“Hey, don’t just run off without me! I - Oh.”  Ann stops, watching the clerk finish handing the box over. “What did you get?”

“That pair of sneakers.” He says, nodding his head toward the display.

Ann scrutinizes it for a moment before nodding and flashing a bright smile. 

“Good choice, Morgana! That is completely Ryuji’s style. I had no idea you paid attention to stuff like that.”

“Of course I do! Fashion is an important part of any phantom thief’s repertoire. Even Ryuji’s kind of fashion,” Morgana declares. Walking away, he adds, “Honestly, why did he need to make this entire thing such an affair though? It’s his birthday. He should be excited!”

“Right? That’s what I said,” Ann lets out a sigh. “And Akira refused to really let me cut loose on this because of it.”

“Ryuji wouldn’t like something super big. We’d just make him self-conscious.” Akira says. 

Morgana grunts, looking down at the bag with a frown. He’s going to have to hold this box the entire time, isn’t he? Well, maybe it would fit if Akira wasn’t taking up all that space. He could always force him to make room, but Morgana is fairly certain that will only end in pain for him later.

Opening the bag, he gives it one last look over. “Yeah, I don’t think this will fit… Wait a second.” Morgana turns, narrowing his eyes at Akira. “There’s a present in here already. You already bought one?”

“Yes.”

Morgana spares a glare. “Then why did I just buy one? Those shoes weren’t cheap!”

“I bought mine a couple of weeks ago.” Akira says. “Since you’re currently me, you have the chance to buy him something too.”

“That makes no sense. I’m still spending your money!”

“Maybe I just want Ryuji to have all the things,” Akira says, a wide smile on his face. Beside him, Ann lets out a strangled noise.

Morgana glances at her, but she’s shaking her head and laughing as she pulls out her phone. 

“Fine,” He says, “but if he calls me a cat I’m taking it back.”

Akira laughs. “Fair enough.”

* * *

 

_ 7/3/2016, Sunday Afternoon _

The get together had been short. It had been 1,150 yen for the best ramen at the shop, which Ryuji had made his best effort to refuse out of modesty. He had also refused to open any of his gifts, either, until Ann had threatened to take hers back. 

As for Akira’s and Morgana’s presents, Akira had insisted that Ryuji could open them later, when they were alone. Something about that statement made everyone else make strange faces. Morgana couldn’t fathom why Akira did things like that either, so he could relate. 

Still, it had been a surprisingly pleasant evening - though Morgana had wondered briefly, watching Yusuke, how the artist would ever eat normal ramen again after getting a taste for the good stuff.

He’d decided to walk Ryuji home afterwards, mostly because Akira was going to stay the night with him. Again.

“Well, uh, here’s me.” Ryuji says, hesitating in front of the apartment door. “I guess you can come in? If you want?”

Morgana shrugs, following him in. He’s partly being polite and partly curious as to what kind of living space might help explain Ryuji’s… Everything. Maybe he lives over a nightclub and he’s always trying to speak over the music, even when he’s not there. Tragic, but untrue, he notes, as he steps over the threshold into a perfectly normal apartment.

He’s in the kitchen – boy, Sojiro would kill someone if his kitchen looked like this – and he can see a living room with a couple of couches facing each other. An old television sits precariously on a rickety table nearby. One of the couches remains free of clothes and blankets, while the other looks like it should be thrown into the wash alongside everything piled on it. The small space, combined with the mess, feels almost claustrophobically cramped.

Akira leaps out of Morgana’s bag, strolling over to the messy couch and laying out comfortably there. Well, he has been over before.  _ Maybe he’s used to it _ , Morgana muses.

“Uh, not to sound rude or nothin’, but why are you here, anyway?” Ryuji asks, grabbing a drink  from the fridge. 

_ Subtlety would never work, _ Morgana thinks as he makes his way over to sit down. “I’m curious, and wanted to ask you something. Why were you so adamant about not celebrating your birthday?” Morgana asks. 

From the couch, Akira’s head shoots up. 

“Ryuji–”

“Nah it’s fine. Listen, I…” Ryuji scowls. “I just, have a lot of bad memories about birthdays. That’s all.”

“Okay, but you also hid it from everyone.” Morgana presses, laying down on the couch. He watches as Ryuji takes a seat next to Akira.

“Come on, Mona. You already know about the shit people say about me.”

“They same the same sort of stuff about Akira.” He points out. “They also don’t know Akira.”

Ryuji huffs. “Do you really need me to spell it out for you? You’re always goin’ on about how I’m super obvious.”

“Because you are!” Morgana bites back a further remark. “But I’m asking you because it’s better to know for sure, right?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Ryuji mumbles. His leg is bouncing up and down. “Alright. My old man came back around drunk the last few birthdays I had when he was around. So he gave me a hell of a ‘birthday beating.’ Each time. That’s it.” He seems to be trying to smile, but to Morgana it looks more like a grimace. “Crappy adults, ya know? Easy way to ruin a good thing.”

_ Oh. _

He really should have put that together. It’s obvious; But Ryuji plays it off like it’s never affected him. 

“Well, all the better that you let Akira and Ann drag you out with all of us.” Morgana says.

Ryuji stares at him. “The hell you talkin’ about?”

“How else are you going to be able to move past it? I can’t exactly relate to bad memories, but isn’t making new ones that are better going to help you do that?” Morgana says. 

“Yeah, guess so.” Ryuji glances around. A collection of presents is sitting on the edge of the table squeezed into the corner.

Right, everyone else gave him their gift. 

“Oh, yeah I guess I should give you this too.” Morgana hands over the bag. “Akira said I should get you something for your birthday.”

“Uh, thanks, I guess?” Ryuji leans over, taking it. He’s staring hard at it. “What the hell is it?”

Morgana blinks. “It’s a shoe box.”

“Yeah, so like, why is it so heavy though? Did you put a bunch of rocks in it or something?”

“Just open it, idiot!” Morgana groans. “I don’t know why I bothered if that’s the kind of reaction I’m going to get.”

“Alright, geez.” Fumbling for a moment, Ryuji sits down beside Akira and pulls the top off, only to stare down at it. “You’re kidding.”

“Yes, it’s an illusion. We’re actually inside the Metaverse right now, and you’re imaging everything.” Morgana snarks, crossing his arms. “No, I’m not kidding.”

He pulls one of the shoes out, eyes wide. 

“Dude, these are  _ awesome _ !” He looks up. “Thanks, man! Wait, how’d you know I wanted these?”

“You’re welcome.” Morgana coughs, turning away. “And I just… Remembered you complaining about you old shoes.”

“Really? Don’t get me wrong, I totally believe you remembered somethin’ like that. But, like, Akira didn’t tell you to?”

Morgana wrinkles his nose. “Of course not!”

“It’s true,” Akira yawns, stretching out beside Ryuji. “He pointed them out all on his own.”

Placing them on the ground, Ryuji gets up and walks over to Morgana. Something about it makes him get up, when Ryuji suddenly reaches over and... Hugs him?

He’s… Hugging him?

“Seriously, thanks Mona.” Ryuji says. Even if his grip is awkward, his words are heartfelt.

Right, this is weird and he really has no reason to stay any longer. 

“Glad my intuition was on the mark - as expected - but I better get back.” Morgana says, hastily extracting himself. “Boss mentioned wanting some help cleaning. Akira, you’re… Staying, right?”

“Yeah, Akira and I are gonna have a date night, as much as we can, to ‘make up’ for not having a big party.” Ryuji says, throwing himself back onto the coach.

“Alright then I’ll see you-” Morgana freezes, rewinding what Ryuji just said. “Wait, you’re  _ what? _ ”

Ryuji winces, glancing down at Akira beside him. After a moment, the cat clears his throat. “The two of us are dating.” Akira says, calmly patting Ryuji’s thigh.

Morgana feels his eye twitch.

“How did I not know about this?” He asks slowly, fists clenching at his sides.

“It was none of your business.” Ryuji snaps.

“Ryuji is right. It was between the two of us.” When Morgana narrows his eyes at him, Akira calmly adds, “And you never asked.”

“But I’ve been with you practically since you met him!” Morgana says, looking back and forth between the two. This is ridiculous! “What, did you decide on this when you two ran without me all the time?”

“You could always have come on some of those runs, you know. Ryuji could easily make you a fitness plan.” Akira says. Narrowing his eyes, he adds, “Which reminds me, you should go to the gym this week.”

“That’s not important right now.” Morgana scoffs. “When did this happen?”

“We don’t need to answer you, ya damn cat.” Ryuji scowls. 

“Ryuji.” Akira snaps before Morgana can rip into him for that. Turning to face Morgana, he says, “Not for very long; Only about a month. We’d dealt with the track problems and… Yeah.” 

Morgana’s eyes widen. “So that’s why he was sleeping over that one night!”

“It’s my room. If I want a friend to sleep over, I can.” Akira says, settling back onto the couch. Ryuji’s hand falls down next to him. 

“What about Boss?”

“Boss… Well, he’s a nice guy. As long as we’re quiet, he wouldn’t mind. Probably.”

“Yeah, exactly.” Ryuji says. “Boss loves me!”

Morgana lets out a harsh laugh. “Right. Who else knows?”

“The only people who know are you and Ryuji’s mom. And the rest of the team, of course.”

“Wait,  _ everyone  _ found out before me?” 

Ryuji lets out a groan. “Geez, no need to be so dramatic, dude. You’re finding out now, aren’t ya?” 

Morgana doesn’t respond, just stares at Akira. This… This shouldn’t matter to him. This was all just started because of a deal in the first place! That the guy he’s trusting to lead the Phantom Thieves, to help him regain his human form and memories, told Morgana last about who he is dating  _ shouldn’t  _ matter. There is a not a painful ebb in his chest that he wasn’t trusted about this, something that even Ryuji’s mom knew before-

_ Wait. _

“You said Ryuji’s mom knows?” Morgana asks. Both of them nod, and he crosses his arms. “Isn’t she going to wonder where  _ you  _ are these days, Akira? And why Ryuji is now cuddling up with the ‘cat’ that he definitely bad mouths all the time?”

Both Akira and Ryuji open their mouths to respond then stop, and stare at each other. 

“I… Did not think about that,” Akira admits. “I haven’t been over more than a couple of times, but…”

“She’s definitely gonna ask, yeah.” Ryuji admits, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. 

“Are you for real?” Morgana says. Now Akira isn’t meeting his eyes, the coward! “Of course neither of you thought about it! What if she starts asking questions about why you’re not over? She’s definitely going to want to know if something happened! And what if she asks Ann? Am I going to be expected to pretend to be a boyfriend too, now? Because I am certainly not going to act as if I am doing  _ anything  _ with Ryuji of all people!”

Ryuji jumps to his feet. “I ain’t doin’ anything with you either, ya damn cat!”

“Stop calling me a cat!” Morgana shouts.

A loud banging echoes in the apartment. “Keep it quiet, you damn kids!” A muffled voice shouts from above.

The room falls silent, Morgana and Ryuji glaring at each other.

Akira hops onto the table and looks up at him. “Morgana, I’m sorry to keep it from you. But, this was something we both fell into together. We didn’t want it to affect everyone at first, but the longer it kept going, the more we realized we couldn’t hide it.”

“You shouldn’t be apologizin’ for nothing, Akira.” Ryuji says, shooting Morgana another glare. “Just cause he wants to be all nosy doesn’t mean shit.”

“Whatever. I’ll leave you two alone, like you clearly want. See you at school.”  He says. Whirling around, he grabs his bag and dashes out of the apartment. The slam of the door cuts off Akira’s shout.

* * *

 

_ 7/3/2016, Sunday Evening _

It’s a quiet walk back to LeBlanc that night, or at least, as quiet as it can get in Tokyo. Morgana finds it discomforting. He’s used to hearing more, smelling more, as he wanders the streets. He remembers the scent of cigarettes in the air; now he can’t even smell that. 

It feels wrong without Akira. Morgana spent ages alone, and yet just a few months of living in the same attic and he feels lost without him. Wasn’t that supposed to be the other way around?

_ Not that he apparently feels the same,  _ Morgana thinks.

He can’t wrap his head around the entire situation, and every time he tries to think about it, he only feels angry. 

_ Whatever. He’s being an idiot. _

As he approaches the door to LeBlanc, Morgana pauses and takes a deep breath. It’s still early enough for customers. 

“Ah, there you are.” Sojiro greets him, taking another breath of his cigarette. “You kids stay out of trouble?”

“Yeah, of course.” Morgana responds stoically. “We went out for ramen.”

“Just ramen?” Sojiro says, standing up a little straighter. “I thought it was a birthday celebration.”

“Yeah, it’s Ryuji. That is a celebration to him.” Morgana huffs. God, that annoying idiot...

Sojiro lets out a hum. “Did your friend steal your cat or something?”

“Basically.”

“Wow. Guess I didn’t realize that’s why he was getting all over you. And here I thought he hated the little guy.” Sojiro sighs. “Guess he really was a cat person.”

“Yeah right.” Morgana says, leaning down on his arms

“Listen kid, I know it can seem impossible in the moment, but a breakup -”

“W-what?” Morgana interrupts, eyes wide as he stares at Sojiro. 

He lets out a chuckle. “I’m not blind, you know.”

“I’m not…” Morgana trails off, before letting his head fall back onto the bar with a groan. Of course Boss also noticed.  _ Those two are complete idiots!  _

“I’m not gonna say anything about it.” Sojiro continues on.  “You two seemed happy, but sometimes things happen. I know when I was dating, my girlfriend and I-”

This is not happening. Hearing about Sojirio’s past love life was not on the menu tonight. He is not going to pretend he is Akira, lovesick because his  _ stupid, bonehead boyfriend  _ broke up with him and stole his ‘cat.’ 

“No, nothing like that happened,” Morgana interrupts. “I just wasn’t able to enjoy myself because I got a message from work.”

“Oh?” Sojiro pauses, leaning back. 

“I’ve been helping Takemi-san at the clinic.” Morgana sits up, letting out a sigh. “It’s become busier, and she needed someone to help around the place.” Morgana explains. Yes, this is a much safer topic, he thinks. “And she told me she’s going to have to be… Letting me go.”

“Why, you screw up some patient’s records or something?”

“Of course not!” Morgana huffs, much to Sojiro’s amusement. “It’s because…” 

The words are uncharacteristically hard to force out. 

“... Because, someone died.” He finishes, a weird feeling rising up his throat. Some kind of pressure.

Sojiro frowns. “What do you mean?”

“That was what Takemi-san told me. A young girl, Miwa-chan, died.”

“Okay. Well, that’s depressing, but-”

“I… I just don’t get it!” Morgana shouts, interrupting Sojiro.

A cold feeling settles in Morgana’s chest. 

“Takemi-san was so distraught. It was all she was talking about, and Ak-  _ I _ was helping her for months!”

He can feel something wet rolling down his face as he continues rambling. 

“And I don’t have any idea how I can help her with this! She knew this girl, and was doing so much to help her… And now she’s just given up.”

He can hear Sojiro plant the glass onto the bar. “Wait a second. This is about a girl you never met?” He asks.

“Yes!” Morgana says, pushing himself off the bar to look at him. Everything looks so blurry. Is he crying? It sucks. “Takemi-san was so, she was, I don’t know, a-and I have no idea what to do to help her.” 

Sojiro stares at him. “Well, there, uh, really isn’t much you can do, kid.”

“Then why? Why did this have to happen?”

“Okay, okay, geez. That’s a whole ‘nother can of worms.” He runs a hand down his face and sighs. “The truth is, sometimes these things happen. Life isn’t always fair. Suppose you know that already, though, huh.”

Morgana can’t think of anything to say to that. It’s true, isn’t it. Akira is long familiar with the injustices of this world. Akira wouldn’t be crying over this, even if he’s sure his friend’s heart is big enough to want to fix it, too. Akira, who isn’t here at the moment, who’s staying with  _ Ryuji _ . The cold feeling in his chest expands, and he just feels alone. He sniffles.

Sojiro seems to notice, and lets out another weary sigh.

“... I guess not.” He notes, for just a moment speaking in a softer tone than Morgana has ever heard from him. Morgana fixes his gaze on the countertop and watches the droplets fall.

He’s so absorbed in his thoughts that he’s genuinely startled when a cup of coffee slides itself into the vanishing space between his forehead and the countertop. He looks up to see Sojiro give him a knowing nod. It takes every wisp of strength Morgana has left not to let his distaste for the beverage show on his face as he takes a sip.

“You know the girl’s name, right?” Sojiro says, casually, leaning heavily on the counter with one arm. The other arm is rubbing the back of his neck. “Maybe try and track down her gravestone and go visit.”

Morgana wipes at his eyes, cringing at the tears. 

“...What will that do?” He replies sullenly.

“Probably nothing for Takemi. But for you? Maybe some closure.” Sojiro says. He looks Morgana up and down. “I gotta admit, it’s weird seeing you so distraught, kid.”

Morgana winces. “Sorry…”

Sojiro waves him off. “Don’t apologize. I’m your guardian while your here, remember? It’s my job.”

“Y-yeah.” Morgana takes in a breath, wipes his face on his sleeve, and smiles at him. “Thanks, Boss.”

* * *

 

It takes him an hour to arrive at the graveyard.

Morgana finds himself dragging his feet on the way there. An orange sky sits overhead. There’s not a cloud in sight. Hardly anyone around either, he notes. He supposes the next service at the church isn’t for another hour or two.

Humans say things at graves. But now, Morgana realizes he doesn’t quite know what to say to this girl he’s never met. Saying ‘I’m sorry,’ doesn’t seem to be enough.  _ I’m sorry I didn’t get the chance to help. I’m sorry that some despicable adult ruined your life for his own gain. I’ll make sure he gets what he deserves! _

He lets out a sigh. No, that won’t help. Would a child even want revenge?

“Kurusu-kun?”

_ Akira just wanted to help.  _ **_I_ ** _ just wanted to help. _

“Is that you, Kurusu-kun?” 

Startled, Morgana looks about wildly. There’s no one else around at the entrance to the graveyard except Haru. … Wait, Haru? She smiles softly at him as he slowly waves hello. 

“It’s lovely to see you again, Kurusu-kun.” She says, walking over. He can’t help but smile back at her. 

“Nice to see you as well, Okumara-san. But what are you doing out here?” 

Her smile drops a little. 

“I was just visiting my mother…” She says quietly.

Morgana winces.  _ Great going, making a lady sad. _

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“That’s alright, you might not have known.” Haru says. After a moment, she clasps her hands. “And, perhaps it is strange to say this, but I don’t find it a sad thing. I hardly knew my mother.”

“Really?” Morgana asks. Nearby, a pair of birds chirp rapidly to each other from a tree. She nods, turning to watch them. 

“I do have a faint memory of her laughing. Father always told me she had a beautiful laugh.” She shakes her head, looking back to him. “I really come here for him, and to try and learn about the person he loved.”

“Do you?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes, I feel like I’ve just been talking to a stone. But I always feel a little better afterwards.” Haru says, stepping closer. “Pardon me for asking, but what are you doing here, Kurusu-kun? Were you visiting a family member as well?”

“Huh? No, no I don’t have family here. I’m, uh,” Morgana hesitates. 

He’s in Akira’s body, and anything he says will be on Akira whenever they switch back. But, Haru has never met Akira. Is there any harm in just being himself for now? The thought is tempting. 

“... I’m actually visiting the patient of a doctor I work for.” He finishes.

“Did you know them well?”

Morgana, shakes his head. “I just want to try and understand. The doctor, she put so much into helping this patient, and it wasn’t enough.”

“Oh, that is terrible!” Haru says, patting his shoulder. Her eyebrows are furrowed, expression openly sympathetic. “It sounds like this person means a lot.”

He nods, lips tight. Something in his chest twists sharply, and he’s suddenly speaking, words spilling out without thought. 

“I just wish I could do something. It’s not Miwa-chan’s fault she got sick, or Takemi-san’s fault the medicine didn’t work, but now…” He trails off, arms crossed. “Now Miwa-chan is dead, and Takemi-san is probably going to have to quit and, and I feel helpless.” 

His voice is quiet as he finishes. He’s not sure when it happened, but his palm hurts from the force of the nails pressing in on them as his fist clenches.

“You have a kind heart, Kurusu-kun. If there was a way, I’m sure you’d find it.” Haru squeezes his arm. Her voice is gentle. “I think telling Miwa-chan is a good idea for you. Maybe it won’t make things better, but I think you’ll feel more at ease afterwards.”

_ That was what Sojiro said as well. _

“I hope so,” Morgana admits.

“You just need to keep your head up.” She smiles. “Tomorrow is a new day, after all.”

He leans against the stone arches. Tomorrow. Right. There’s school tomorrow, and he’ll need to talk to Akira and Ryuji.

Morgana must be making a face at the thought, because Haru’s smile falls. 

“Kurusu-kun?” She says, just loud enough to shake him from his thoughts.

“Oh! It’s nothing, just remembering something I need to do tomorrow.”

“It can’t be pleasant, if you’re frowning like that.” 

“O-oh, it’s just…” Morgana fumbles. This is veering into more dangerous territory.

“Oh, is it just going to school in general? I do keep hearing all those terrible rumors about you. I wish I could do something about that. You truly don’t deserve it, you’re quite nice.”

_ She thinks I’m nice? _

“Huh? No, no it’s not that. I’m used to it. It’s just, I… ” Morgana pauses. Should he tell her? He’s going to have to word this carefully. “I... know a couple of people who have been dating for a month. Back home, I mean. But I only found out recently. I’m very close to one of them, and I was shocked to only learn about it now.”

“Oh. I can see why you might be hurt by that.”

“I’m not hurt, I’m…” Morgana trails off. He’d be lying if the thought of Akira hiding a relationship didn’t sting. “I just feel like he didn’t trust me.”

Haru hums softly. “Maybe he wasn’t sure when to tell you? Or how you might take it?”

_ That’s stupid! What was I going to do, shout at him about it? That’s idiotic! It’s… It’s…  _ Morgana frowns. He had shouted at the two of them when he’d found out.  _ And a month ago was only a couple of days before Makoto found us out. Akira wouldn’t have heard the end of it from me if he mentioned he’d started dating Ryuji after the  _ **_idiot_ ** _ had landed them all in hot water. _

“Maybe… But the other one can really get on my nerves too.”

“Why’s that? Does this other person treat your friend poorly?”

_ The only one who was bad to Akira was me,  _ he thinks bitterly. Out loud, he answers, “No, nothing like that. He can be a bit of an idiot, though.”

“Why do you say that?” Haru asks, tilting her head.

“So many reasons. He’s always so loud, he never pays attention when people are saying things, and he’s so, so  _ vulgar _ .” Morgana rants, crossing his arms. “It’s so infuriating!”

Haru lets out a giggle. 

“I might be wrong, but that sounds like many of the boys at our school.”

Morgana pauses. Haru isn’t wrong, exactly. He’s overheard a lot of conversations by the students at Shujin, and the boys (and some of the girls, if Morgana is being honest) can often be just as bad as Ryuji.  _ But still! _

“He should be better, though! He could put more effort in, and yet he just goes along with things, only questioning stuff when he clearly wouldn’t understand the answers in any case.”

Haru hums thoughtfully before answering. 

“It sounds to me like you care about him as well, Kurusu-kun. In fact, it sound like you care about both these people quite a bit.” She giggles. “Forgive me, but that sounds just like you.”

Morgana’s eyes widen. “W-what do you mean?”

“I don’t think this would be affecting you as much as it was if you weren’t close to them.” She gives him a soft smile. “I can understand being hurt by someone you care about. It might feel like there’s nothing to do about it, but… You can still be there for them, right? Just let them know what it meant to you.”

Morgana rubs his chin thoughtfully. Haru isn’t wrong. And… Perhaps it’s like this situation with Miwa-chan. He can’t change what’s happened, and nothing he does will make Akira stop liking Ryuji. Morgana might never understand why he does in the first place, but he can put up with it. Humans are strange, but he’s human too. 

“That makes a lot of sense.” He flashes a wide grin at Haru, feeling ten times lighter. “Thank you, Okumara-san. You really set my mind at ease.”

“You’re most welcome.” She says with a smile, suddenly a quiet jingle rings out. Haru pulls out her phone and frowns. “Oh... it’s getting rather late. My father is probably wondering why I haven’t returned yet.” Haru shakes her head, smiling once more. “I hope I was able to help you, at least a little bit, Kususu-kun. I’ll see you tomorrow!” 

Waving goodbye, Morgana turns back to the entrance of the graveyard. He still has something to do. It’s quiet in there, but after talking with Haru, it’s also calming. The files had said Miwa-chan was buried near the center of the graveyard, but it’s so small that it only takes a few minutes to reach it.

Finally finding the plot in question, he steps forward and frowns. None of the gravestones have Miwa’s name on them. Not even her family name. Morgana is positive he went to the right spot. He could ask someone for help… Glancing around, the only person around is a man in ratty looking jeans trudging through the grass, stopping every now and then to pick up some trash and stick it in a plastic bag he’s carrying.

“Excuse me?” He calls out to the tired looking man. “Do you know who makes the graves here?”

“You’re looking at him, kid.” He rasps back. Rolling his neck, he asks, “What, got someone to bury? I ain’t the one to talk to ‘bout that.”

“No, of course not. Could you help me find the gravestone of Ujikaya Miwagame? I’ve been told she was buried here over a week ago, but can’t seem to find it.” Morgana says, handing him Akira’s phone, open to what records he’d been able to dig up.

Taking the phone, the man eyes the screen. “Hmm… A week ago, eh? Well, we got a couple then, but no little girls, mister.” He hands it back with a shrug. “You sure it’s here?”

“I’m positive!” Morgana says with a huff, glaring back up at him. “I was even told they died!”

“Well, they might still be a goner, but that piece of paper ain’t right about her being buried here.” Taking a puff of their cigarette, the man starts walking away. “Good luck finding your dead girl.”

Morgana stares after him. “She’s not here. But, there’s no way they’d make a mistake... Unless…”

…Unless she’s still alive.

Oyamada  _ lied _ .

Morgana is off like a shot. He needs to catch a train.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Finally_ , and update! I am so sorry for the long, long delay, but here we are, back with a new chapter! And on my last day of classes too! It's a loooong one, hopefully making up for this barren wasteland of updates. It's been a crazy last semester for me (and even crazier to be graduating and working a job soon).
> 
> I hope you've all been well! I've been really looking forward to returning to this fic after writing short stories all semester. So here's to continuing this fun adventure. I hope you all enjoy!
> 
> P.S. Thanks once more to Chronicdelusionist; their ever present support and awesome art continue to prove how amazing they are.


End file.
